Claude and Barbara Mayfield spent two decades operating a business in South Africa, but their most significant contribution to the continent came during retirement.
After selling their textile chemical company in the 1990s, the Mayfields of Roswell started a small books project in Zimbabwe to send books and educational materials to schools and libraries in the country’s rural areas.
With the help of Books for Africa based in Atlanta and other nonprofits like the Rotary Club and businesses in Southern Africa, the Mayfields have shipped 2 million books and thousands of solar lights from The Bourke Family Foundation to over 300 libraries and 60,000 students in Zimbabwe.
“Every living being on earth has a purpose and a mission. We consider this to be our mission,” said Barbara, 80, with the nod of agreement from Claude, 82.
“We look at each other to this day and ask, ‘What are we doing?’ We’ve gotten wonderful messages back from all over Zimbabwe thanking us for being wonderful ambassadors,” Barbara said.
Credit: spec
Credit: spec
The couple grew up in Ellijah and lived in Roswell throughout their business career, traveling back and forth to South Africa. Their project, the Zambezi Schoolbook Project, came about almost inadvertently.
After selling their business, the Mayfields wanted to explore the African countryside. They took many trips to the continent and enjoyed rambling down remote roads and visiting villages in the African bush. Occasionally, they would see thatched schoolhouses and children in pristine uniforms, which always piqued their interest. At times, they were even invited inside to observe.
The children were disciplined and eager to learn, but “there weren’t books — no textbooks or library books,” Claude said.
“We saw the desperate need for pencils and anything for their school,” Barbara added.
English reading books were especially needed for children to learn the secondary language, which was not spoken at home. To move beyond seventh grade, students had to pass an English proficiency test, and many could not, Claude said.
The Mayfields made it their goal to send early reader books so students could build English skills.
The couple knew they couldn’t do this on their own. Getting supplies shipped in was costly and a logistical mystery. They began by having books and school supplies sent from South Africa, but it was too expensive to continue.
Just as they were stumped about what to do next and how to get more supplies, they discovered Books for Africa, which had a large warehouse in Atlanta.
Books For Africa remains the largest shipper of donated text and library books to the African continent, shipping over 60 million books to all 55 countries since 1988.
“We found that this was the mother ship,” Claude said. “They had mega books. It was a massive warehouse filled with volunteers packing books. We knew these books were what we needed.”
Initially, the Mayfields would need to raise $16,000 for each 40-foot container filled with 40,000 pounds of books. They also had to find partners to help receive and distribute the materials.
They found diverse groups of nonprofits conservation and businesses with community involvement.
“We pulled together a group that covered probably two-thirds of the country. Barbara and I went around in a four-wheel drive and found these people on the ground in Zimbabwe,” Claude said.
An anonymous donor who grew up in Zimbabwe helped pay for the first shipment.
Over the past decade, the Zambezi Schoolbook Project has sent 35 containers with about 2 million books for people in the remote areas of Zimbabwe, Claude said. Three more containers will be shipped by mid-2025.
The books have been packed and shipped from Books For Africa’s Atlanta warehouse in recent years with the help of funding from the Department of Defense Humanitarian Assistance Transportation Program.
The Zambezi Schoolbook Project has also provided solar desk lamps and solar panels for libraries, from The Bourke Family Foundation headquartered in California, because there is no electricity.
An important partner has been the Rotary Club of Harare West in Zimbabwe. “They could give us import duty exemption, which is a big stumbling block because there were big duties on books and other things we bring in, such as solar lighting,” Claude said.
Credit: spe
Credit: spe
Patrick Plonski, executive director of Books For Africa, reflected on the work of Barbara and Claude:
“Claude and Barbara’s work in leading this effort to send so many books to Zimbabwe is simply phenomenal. I have visited the schools in Zimbabwe where these books have been placed into libraries and met with the small group of Rotarians in Zimbabwe leading this effort. It just shows how a few people with a good plan and a lot of motivation can accomplish so much when they put their minds to it.”
The Mayfields said their business and logistics experiences in Africa helped them pull together a team that became the Zambezi Schoolbook Project, which they hope will continue for a long time.
“Seeing these kids smiling and happy, and then going into these schools and seeking their reaction to the books — we can’t let it go,” Barbara said.
More information
For more about the Zambezi Schoolbook Project: zambezi-schoolbook-project.org/home-page
For more about Books for Africa: www.booksforafrica.org/
About the Author
