The Badili Zone Community Library Renovation Journey

Nenia Campbell once said, “When nature calls, I don’t let it go to voicemail." For Badili Zone, this day was when nature called and we couldn’t afford to ignore it. A few months after we officially launched a community library in Mukuru Community where the students access learning materials, get mentored, access sanitary pads, and take part in other activities that facilitate their personal growth and development, the most unfortunate event happened. It rained heavily, and the library got flooded with most books beings spoilt. It was a very sad sight and the hardest thing that we had to do was look at the students' faces and explain to them why exactly they can’t access the library. The students could not access the facility anymore for weeks and the activities prepared by the Badili Zone Organization had to pause during the same period.

The Badili Zone team decided to face the unfortunate unforeseen tragedy that struck the Community Library. The team thought of ways to solve the challenge, and we settled for fundraising to raise enough money to renovate the facility. We were aiming at getting $2815 for the renovation of the library.

When the option to take had been determined, we did several things to achieve the set target. We had an online campaign for the fundraiser using the different social media platforms, had Kirk TV do our campaign video, held different online meetings to discuss the quality of education in vulnerable communities and our call for action remained to be asking the attendees to contribute, like, comment, tweet, retweet and ask their friends to join the campaign in as many ways as it applies to them. We also applied for funds with Melton to complement the fundraiser and I was able to win the grant.

At the end of it all, the campaign was successful and we were able to raise approximately $3000 for the renovation of the library. We were able to renovate the library, do repainting and make a few adjustments to make the facility environmentally conducive for learning on a larger scale. We do mentorship to students, the students now have uninterrupted access to the community library facility and to sum it up, the Badili zone activities now go on uninterrupted with the weather condition.

The whole process taught us many lessons but the major three are; Firstly, the youths can create a change breakout if they want to and an obstacle is just a signal for a different route to be taken. Secondly, in anything you do, make sure to clarify the WHY and once the WHY is clearly stated, the HOW will always find its way to being sorted out. Thirdly, do it scared, do it impossible, do it regardless of all the reasons that can present themselves as potential setbacks, that's how you get things done.