The people behind ABDO

ABDO has a board which comprising of 7 members and the founder Talent Nyathi is one of them. The organization has 9 employees. Albert Mazula is the executive coordinator and has worked with ABDO since 2003. Placsedes Ranga and Anthony Sungisayi are project officers. Ranga started 1999 and Sungisayi in 2004 although he had worked as an ABDO Area Team Leader since 1999 in one of the districts. Further ABDO has an administrative assistant, a finance officer, a driver, two security guards and a general hand. For the time being we also have two interns at the office who are learning more about the work we are doing in Zimbabwe.

ABDO have hundreds of volunteers out in the field. These are people who work in the libraries and the study circles. These people are picked by the community and do everything from their homes. In all there are 405 volunteers in the field. To them all, we are very grateful for their hard work.

As ABDO’s staff we look at ourselves as one family and the feelings between us, besides being professional, is very warm and caring. This family feeling is something that goes through the entire work ABDO does and is also reflected in the field. When ABDO staff goes out in the field we are always welcomed with tender hospitality.

In the future ABDO sees the organization growing both in the numbers of people working with ABDO and also the individuals who are accessing our services.

The ABDO Study Circles

ABDO helps start up study circles in the districts where we operate.  The study circle contains 6 – 12 people from the same area, who have the same interests and come together for a common purpose. They discuss problems that affecting them and come up with lasting solutions. The process is that of identifying, investigation, analyzing and action-and-reflection through a collective, democratic and dialogical process. The study circles are a tool of solving problems locally. As the libraries in cases tend to reach a younger crowd the study circles is a way of reaching out to the elders in the community. The older people realized that they also wanted more information on various developmental issues. ABDO develops and or, finds the study material which the groups need for the discussions. ABDO also produced a guide book “Understanding study circles – a guide for communities”, written by Staffan Gunnarsson and published in 2002 and has been a tool in the formation of study circles and spreading the methodology. The study circles have a wide range of activities from discussions of local issues such as HIV & AIDS, gender equality, domestic violence to practical projects like poultry, bakery and crafts making. ABDO provides the project groups with a loan, not in cash but in form of equipment or materials and the groups pay back within a year. The products from these income generating projects increase income in the families of the members.

In periods when the schools lacked books and had limited teachers the study circle method was also used in schools. The pupils would create study circles groups where they would discuss information from the textbooks and give each other assignments. The usage of study circles and the benefit from libraries has improved school pass rates in many schools where ABDO operates.

In every area where ABDO works there is a study circle committee which helps to coordinate the study circles in that area. In the groups the members democratically comes up with rules and structures. Many of the groups last a long time, the members become close friends and sometimes the study circle grows into a company.

ABDO also work with educating other NGO’s about the study circle method since it has been found to be working well in ABDO areas of operation. Study circles bring people together and make them develop both as individuals and as a community.

The most important thing is that the initiative comes from the people, from the grass roots, a bottom-up approach. The focus is on what these people want to learn, that which is relevant to them. ABDO provides the tools for it to come true. Currently ABDO is working with close to 120 study circles.

How ABDO starts up libraries

When ABDO starts up a library in a rural area, which often can be a place without working infrastructure, we first take contact with local leaders. With their help and support we then start up the library. 95 % of the libraries are situated in schools, but in some cases they are in communal houses, in homes or in a special built library building. ABDO then asks the people which books they want, what information they are looking to collect. In the area we find volunteers who take care of the library, and there are usually two librarians who works in the library. Where the library is at a school, there is a teacher librarian and one community librarian. ABDO trains the librarians on basic librarianship covering topics like cataloguing, classification, accessioning and the care and issuing of library materials. Librarians also assist users to easily find materials in the library. We also promote the library through annual exhibitions so that the library is not just a place to find information but to also a place for people to meet and socialize.

Since 1995 when ABDO was started 194 libraries has been founded and 300 000 users access the libraries per year. The libraries may look very different from place to place and here we are not talking about state-of-the art structures but simple structures erected by poor rural communities.  They range from a few shelves in a corner of a room to a whole building but they all share the same purpose – making people grow as they find knowledge.    

About ABDO

ABDO was started in 1995 by Talent Nyathi who was inspired by her friend Doris Lessing. Her aim with the organization was to make information available to the people living in the rural areas of Zimbabwe: by creating libraries and providing them with books. 16 years later ABDO has come a long way in pursue to spread information. 194 libraries have been started and in 2010 over 60 000 books were provided. When starting up a library the community is involved to choose community librarians who are then

trained by ABDO. This makes the libraries more functional and user friendly.

ABDO are also encouraging the formation of study circles. Study circles are forum for discussion and problem solving at local level. Study circles also engage in knowledge and skills acquisition and they put these into practice when they do income generating projects like poultry, peanut butter, sewing, bakeries and garden projects. ABDO provides the study circle with capital assistance when projects are started. Material inputs like feeding trophies, chickens feeds, day old chicks, butter making machines, flour, clothing materials and so on.

HIV and AIDS study circles has also been founded both to promote the awareness and also to support orphans of parents who died of the sickness. A study circle is formed and takes social responsibility for some children. They provide food, schools fees, school uniforms and medication to mention a few. An example is

Khulisani Study Circle

of Tsholotsho which looks after 3 orphans.  

ABDO also works with gender and environmental issues. With study circles and work shops people have been made able to talk about gender equality and the women have come to participate more in the communities. Since women have been marginalized for a long time most gender projects seek to redress gender imbalances and women’s involvement in various activities. Also when it comes to finding a person to lead the local coordinating team, ABDO strives to find both men and women. 2009 50% of the leaders were women. When it comes to environmental awareness ABDO works with educating people in the rural areas about the consequences of  environmental degradation such as  cutting down trees, panning for mineral, bush fires and clearing land for agriculture  to mention but a few.

ABDO’s mission is to promote literacy, cultural diversity to encourage initiatives for sustainable individual and community development through the provision of educational materials, establishment and support of study circles.

ABDO envisions vibrant communities that actively participate in their development through empowerment of the marginal communities in Zimbabwe.