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Some of the children and the teachers of the Mulisawashu Early Learning Centre pose for a photo next to the young baobab trees.

A baobab garden for small school at Ha-Mashamba

 

The Mulisawashu Early Learning Centre at Ha-Mashamba village has something that very few other small schools have – an own baobab nursery.

The beautiful little pre-school, not far from Elim, is one of the participants in the Baobab Champion project of the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror newspapers. The aim of the project is to raise awareness about baobab trees and to teach children more about this unique plant.

The project was made possible, thanks to a donation by the family of the late Frans van der Merwe and in conjunction with Dr Sarah Venter’s Baobab Foundation. Four schools from Louis Trichardt are taking part, but additional “starter packs” were also provided to smaller learning centres such as Kumon Makhado and Mulisawashu Early Learning Centre.

The Baobab Champion starter kits that were distributed each contained five planting bags; a sachet containing 15 baobab seeds (three seeds per planting bag as not all seeds germinate) and a booklet with information about baobabs and the projects of the Baobab Foundation.

The weather at Ha-Mashamba village seems to be perfect for the little baobab trees and a couple of dozen of the seeds have germinated, much to the excitement of the children. When the school was visited last Thursday, the “baobab garden” stood proudly on the side of the colourful classrooms.

The pre-school is the brainchild of W/O Forster Rambau and his wife, Mercy. They realised the need for a pre-school facility in the Ha-Mashamba area. “The name of the school is a combination of our two children, Mulisa and Washu, which literally translated means ‘God is for us’,” explained Forster Rambau.

The school’s slogan, “Our passion – their future”, reflects the couple’s commitment to making a change in their society. Currently, 44 children are enrolled at the school and the classes vary from Grade R to Grade RRR. The medium of teaching is English, which is also quite unique in the area.

The baobab trees will form part of the school for quite some time. The trees will continue to grow in their planting bags for the next year or two. Once they become too big for the bags, the baobab trees can then be planted, either at the school or at the homes of the children.

Because baobab trees can become hundreds of years old, these little plants will in all probability outlive the school and its little ones.

 

 

Date:15 May 2022

By: Anton van Zyl

Anton van Zyl has been with the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror since 1990. He graduated from the Rand Afrikaans University (now University of Johannesburg) and obtained a BA Communications degree. He is a founder member of the Association of Independent Publishers.

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