Nursery School in Schoemanskloof – Bambisanani
The following initiative has been formulated in response to direct requests from the local community.
From the beginning of the second term of 2007, OknetPrimary School, a small government school in Schoemanskloof (60km from Nelspruit in Mpumalanga) closed down. The school served mainly the many SiSwati-speaking children of this rural area. They are now transported to a school about 45km from here.
We received permission from the Department of Education to use the facility, and they expressed their full support.
Bambisanani nursery school opened its doors on the 1st of July 2008. The school has been operational for nearly three years, and both the parents and the children attending the school are tremendously pleased with the work that is being done. The teacher is one of the mothers, and she is continually trained by Ntataise Lowveld Trust.
At a committee meeting of the Schoemanskloof Farmer’s Association, this project had been formally endorsed by them. Schoemanskloof Community Initiative is a registered NPO ( number: 077-980 NPO), and the school is in the process of registering as an ECD Centre with the Department of Social Development.
It is envisaged that the nursery school is the first phase in developing this abandoned school into a thriving community centre. This facility could, over the next few years, be developed to provide skills-training for adults. The community has expressed the wish to have basic literacy training, training in life skills, and then specific skills such as ‘citrus farming’; training in crafts, with the aim to start a business or sell through the local farm stall, etc.
There is also no clinic in the vicinity and the mobile clinic is very unreliable. On the advice of Acts Community Clinic, an NGO, we are therefore currently doing a census to determine the number of people requiring such a service and think that part of the school buildings would be an ideal place for such a facility.
Louise Schoeman
With the support and sponsorship of individuals and businesses we’ve come a long way and are excited about the possibilities of the future.
Schoemanskloof Project 
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