Beginning in the late 1930’s, the Swazi mining town of Bulembu grew into a thriving community of over 10,000 people, with a broad range of housing, several schools, a hospital, stores, gas stations, social entertainment, and recreational clubs. Then in 2001 the asbestos mining company that had operated the town, located in the Highveld of northwestern Swaziland, shut down. With no jobs, the town was soon abandoned.

In 2006, a team of entrepreneurs and social developers purchased the abandoned town with the goal of restoring Bulembu to a vibrant, self sustaining community by the year 2020. They envision a town where 10,000 residents have access to quality work and essential social services, and 2,000 orphaned and vulnerable children have access to education, health services and family structures.

Using the infrastructure created by the mining industry, Bulembu leadership is building innovative, sustainable and profitable businesses, including tourism, a dairy and bakery that will replace imported milk and bread, and a tree nursery to supply seedlings to the Swazi lumber industry. Each enterprise is formally a division of the larger charity, with profits flowing into Bulembu's Sustainability Fund to advance the Bulembu vision. The eventual goal is to generate close to $6 million US a year to sustain the community.

The HIV/AIDS pandemic has impacted nearly every family in Swaziland. Recent statistics estimate the number of Swazi citizens living with AIDS at 38% - the highest infection rate in the world. The disease has caused a country wide orphan crisis, with an estimated 120,000 orphaned and vulnerable children (15% of the total population) left to fend for themselves, in part because almost 78% of Swazis live below the poverty line, with two thirds living on less than $1 a day.

Bulembu is being transformed through two complementary strategies – community care and community enterprise. Many of the first steps towards a self-sustaining community involve restoring basic social services, including a clinic, schools, churches, training centres, and other community organizations.

In January 2009, Bulembu opened a new 21 room school facility with capacity for over 400 students (current enrolment is over 175). At the Bulembu Christian Academy, the Accelerated Christian Education (ACE) curriculum allows students to learn at their own pace, often doing multiple educational years simultaneously. The student to teacher ratio in Bulembu is 10:1 compared to nearly 60:1 nationally in Swaziland.

A fully functioning clinic has been established, providing 24 hour medical service to all residents; patients in critical condition can be transferred to a nearby hospital. The clinic also runs a HIV/AIDS program, offering testing and anti-retroviral drug treatment to community members living with AIDS, and serves neighbouring communities.

Bulembu’s goal is to support the ongoing care of 2,000 orphaned and vulnerable children by 2020 by providing holistic care for each child in a home, rather than an orphanage. Each child lives in a refurbished home with a caregiver and 5 other children, creating new families that will be the thread that restores the social fabric of a nation on the verge of collapse due to the AIDS pandemic. 

Bulembu Dairy will make it possible to provide milk locally at up to 35% below current market value. Last year, only 50% of the 11 million liters of milk consumed by Swazi’s was produced domestically; most was imported from South Africa. First year plans call for 30 cows, expanding to over 60 by the end of the second year.

Bulembu Bakery will be able to produce 1,680 loaves per 8-hour shift, meeting not only the community’s needs but also serving the nearby retail markets. Currently, all bread consumed in Bulembu is imported from outside Swaziland.

Bulembu Tree Nursery hopes to create a profitable business selling seedlings directly to local timber companies who currently import stock from South Africa. The Swaziland lumber industry, the country’s second largest industry, imported more than 10 million tree seedlings a year even before the devastating fires of 2007 destroyed over 30,000 hectares of forest plantations.

Tourism is growing, with accommodation available in the Bulembu Country Lodge, once the home of senior mine staff.

The project is led by Bulembu International (BI), which includes the Bulembu Foundation, based in Vancouver, Canada; funding partners NOW Africa, Bulembu UK, and Bulembu USA (Partners in Action); and Bulembu Ministries Swaziland, the implementing and operating organization. Bulembu International has received support from donors in Canada, the UK, the USA, and Switzerland.

This story was prepared from information on the Bulembu website. I first read about Bulembu in two stories written for IPS by Mantoe Phakathi, entitled DEVELOPMENT: Social Enterprise in the Swazi Highveld. Thanks to James Woller, director of operations for Bulembu Foundation, for sharing the wonderful pictures of Bulembu.

Posted on YouTube 12 Sept. 2007