Aussie Books for Zim is an Australian registered charity with deductible gift recipient status (ABN 13462778021). We collect books and stationery from Australian communities, schools, families and individuals to set up school libraries in rural Zimbabwe. Our charity seeks to create improve literacy in these communities, in order to empower kids with knowledge and the confidence to contribute to shaping the world they live in.

The Aussie Books for Zim project started in May 2015 after our founder Dr. Alfred Chidembo made an observation about the volumes of books that were annually discarded while still in excellent condition. In Australia, libraries send at least 5 million books to the landfill per year. These are books which could otherwise be 'recycled' by setting up libraries in disadvantaged communities in Africa.

You or your company can help us facilitate this empowerment process by donating to our organization. Your donation will go towards purchase of library furniture and shipping books from Australia to Zimbabwe and consequently delivery to the recipients.

According to Alfred, "The sight of discarded books immediately brought to memory the children in disadvantaged and rural communities in my home country of Zimbabwe. My passion and appreciation for books came about when my father moved me to the city from the rural school at seven years of age and registered me at the local library as a personal investment in my future. This move granted me access to books, which were scarce in the rural school I formerly attended. I am grateful for the chance I was afforded to read, dream bigger and actually pursue those dreams. My father's investment in me propelled me to pursue knowledge and science and as a result today, I am a PhD graduate from the Institute for Superconducting and Electronic Materials at the University of Wollongong, Australia. It would have been nearly impossible for me to dream big in a rural setup without access to books.

Together with a team of passionate volunteers we hope to give kids in rural Zimbabwe the same chance to escape poverty through books. We hope to set up links and share education programs between Australia and Zimbabwe thereby creating an impact in both countries.

To date, we have received overwhelming support from our local community in the Sydney and Illawarra regions and have since shipped over 30,000 books and some stationery for the first lot of libraries (6 in total).We have also collected over AU$21 000 worth of uniforms and AU$15 000 worth of rugby equipment which was donated to Victoria High School in Masvingo , Zimbabwe. We envisage a higher population of doctors, teachers or lawyers arising from these unequipped schools through this project.

Our hope is that kids in rural Zimbabwe know that there is a community starting with Australia, which cares about investing in them just as my father invested in me.