On March 15 2019, one of the worst tropical cyclones to affect Southern Africa made landfall in Beira. Intense Tropical Cyclone Idai is ranked as the 2nd or 3rd deadliest tropical cyclone on record. Idai brought intense destructive winds and flooding which affected Madagascar, Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe. The cyclone left more than 700 people dead unfolding into a major humanitarian crisis with hundreds of thousands of people needing assistance today.

My name is Tafadzwa Dutoit Nyamande. I am a 33-year-old RITx Project Management MicroMasters student living in Harare, Zimbabwe. I decided to team up with my 18-year-old nephew, Rodreck Nyamande, who came up with the idea of collecting donations of books and stationery as he travels from Cape Town, South Africa to Chimanimani. Chimanimani accumulated the heaviest rains and widespread flash flooding ensued affecting 250 000 people, killing at least 259 people and more than 500 people from the Rusitu Valley in Chimanimani are missing as of 20 March.

I was alerted to this cause through Rodreck's Facebook post/campaign #SaveTheBookWorm, in which he was calling for book donations and describing the ways he wants to help. The idea is to use books and educational materials as a form of post-trauma therapy for affected children. We want to introduce Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Mathematics (STEAM) educational toys. These include, but not limited to, Lego, Snap Circuits, Magna Tiles, Turing Tumble and Makeblock. We are thinking of remedies which go beyond temporary relief towards foundations for life skills and personal growth. We consider this as an important step towards rebuilding and even future development of this beautiful land and its people.

All donations for books and educational materials can be sent directly to our Harare address and drop-off points as detailed on the Facebook page. Individuals and organisations can give monetary donations on Fundition which will be used to finance the logistics involved which include transportation, camping for at least a month, food and water. We will need a tent with a sizable capacity to make a makeshift classroom which we can move from one area to another. We call upon Collaborators to help with ideas suggestions and to join our team which is so far comprised of 2 individuals.

We will document the whole experience with stories, videos and pictures which will be shared on Facebook and on Steemit @vambirevapepuka. We would have opened a GoFundMe for this idea since more people are familiar with it but the service is not available in Zimbabwe. We are proud to be backed by blockchain technology and confident that the power of decentralised crowdfunding will prove itself in this time of need. We look forward to working with different people from around the world for the idea to evolve into something monumentally bigger.

Thank you