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Bulembu's Top Ten Highlights from 2010

Looking back at 2010 there are so many advancements and successes.  We've worked to narrow them down to give you some perspective on what has been accomplished in Bulembu over the last 12 months.  Here are the Top 10 Highlights from 2010.  

10. Completed the infrastructure (sewerage, electrical, water) upgrading. 

9. Started repaving 5km of roads. 

8. Clinic increased the number of free HIV tests offered to the community. 

7. New Child Care Homes built.

6. Sales at the Bulembu Store in Piggs Peak were at an all time high in November.

5. Voices for Bulembu campaign raises over $1.4 million and goes international with a concert in Pretoria, RSA.  

4. The rehabilitation of the mine dump begins.

3. Royal Rangers program launched as an after school program.  

 2. Broke ground on the Bulembu Hospitality and Training Centre.

1. Bulembu Dairy became profit centre and is identified as a leading growth enterprise for Bulembu.  

Solomon Mamba - a 2010 Christmas Interview

Meet Solomon Mamba, the last in our 2010 Christmas Interview series.  Solomon is the Bulembu Stores Manager. Stores is the central distribution hub for goods purchased for Bulembu. He has been the stores manager for six months and has been tasked with making stores more efficient. 

How are you going to be celebrating an African Christmas?

I usually celebrate Christmas with my family, but they are going away on holiday so this year I’ll be here in Bulembu. They are coming back after Christmas and then we will be going to Nelspruit, South Africa. 

  

What do you enjoy most about Christmas?

It’s family time. Everyone in the family meets and then we go to church. It’s different when everybody is here, it feels different.

What is your favorite Christmas Carol?

Joy to the World.

Have you experienced a white Christmas before?

Not at all.

What do you think it is like?

It would be boring, compared to what we normally have here.

What was a highlight for you in 2010?

For me personally it was being transferred from the forestry department to stores.

What are you looking forward to next year?

Improving the stores department. 

What has been the biggest change in Bulembu in the last year?

The biggest change was the construction of the Hospitality Training Centre and the opening of the Bakery.

What is the biggest challenge you face in the year ahead?

To improve the communication in the departments, that is the biggest challenge. If the communication isn’t happening within the different departments then it makes our job here at stores a difficult one. You need open channels of communications.

What is best about living in Bulembu?

You don’t have to climb into a local taxi or a bus to get to work, you walk to work which is not a long distance.

What do you wish for Christmas for yourself?

A peaceful one.

What do you wish for Christmas for Bulembu?

For peace. I don’t want anyone getting sick or being in an accident.

Vernon Puttkammer - a 2010 Christmas Interview

Vernon Puttkammer is Bulembu’s Director of Child Care. He deals with the various government departments relating to orphan care and oversees all departments within Bulembu that contribute to the child care program. He and his family have been on Bulembu since 2007.

How are you going to celebrate an African Christmas?

Under a foreign introduced pine tree form Europe, with European decorations, candles, lots of German cakes and biscuits and this is all celebrated with family. We celebrate Christmas on the 24^th of December and then on the 25^th we go to church and afterwards have a big Christmas meal with roast beef, roast chicken , potatoes, vegetables. Very German / African food.

What do you enjoy most about Christmas?

I enjoy all the family that is together, the celebration of the birth of Christ and the hope that we get through Him. It’s just a very nice time of the year where people are more tolerant of each other, more considerate and a lot less self focused. 

What is your favorite Christmas carol?

Silent Night.

Have you experienced a white Christmas before?

No, I have never experienced a white Christmas.  

What do you think it’s like? 

I think it’s cold and cozy.

What was a highlight for you in 2010?

Definitely the kids!!! The overall progress in the children who have been in the care program for a couple of years and how they have grown and changed has been a huge highlight. Some of the children who came into the program were very sick, literally on their death beds and now to see how they have grown in school and how they have adapted to a new life – it is amazing.

What are you looking forward to next year?

Saving more lives through the transformation offered in Bulembu. 

What has been the biggest change in Bulembu in the last year?

The growth of the number of kids that have come in and also the people that live and work in Bulembu. Just to have seen the program grow and the awareness around the world about Bulembu. 

What is the biggest challenge you face in the next year?

The biggest challenge is finding a way to identify the kids with the biggest need to come into the program.

What is the best about living in Bulembu?

It’s peaceful.

What do you wish for Christmas for yourself?

Snow!

What do you wish for Christmas for Bulembu?

I wish that the hope that comes with the birth of Christ is received by the people.