Latest News
A centre for excellence: Bulungula College midyear update
We have reached the midyear mark at Bulungula College (BC). With only two terms left, we celebrate our achievements and reflect on how we can improve before the end of the school year. We pride ourselves as a centre of excellence and a model for what quality...
Using data for greater impact
For the past 15 years, we have been implementing projects from Preconception-to-Career across education, healthcare, sustainable livelihoods and youth development in four villages. Since January, our Nomakhayas have provided one-on-one HIV education to 568 community...
How young people spend their time matters— providing our youth with fun & age-appropriate activities
A month of celebrating our youth in South Africa has been clouded by the recent, tragic deaths of twenty-one children at a tavern in East London. This horrible event has emphasised the importance, and vital need, for structured environments for young people to enjoy...
Supporting our learners to get a second chance at a Matric certificate
We are committed to going the extra mile with our learners to ensure they can finish high school. Prior to the opening of the Bulungula College (BC) in 2019, there was no option for secondary school in our area, and no functional transport to other schools. The only...
A Bulungula History— independent tourism as a tool for rural development
The finding of the future Bulungula Lodge In 2002, Dave Martin (the founder of the Bulungula Lodge) set out to fulfil his vision of using backpacker/independent tourism as a tool for rural development in a remote African community, while simultaneously being an...
Providing young people with the support needed to ensure productive careers— not just certificates
Prior to the opening of the Bulungula College in 2019, as a result of not having a high school in our area, 95% of learners from our community dropped out before grade 12. As part of the founding vision of the Bulungula College, we wanted to ensure that every child...
The impact of the BI— the depth of our projects
Over the past 15, we have steadily built our programmes to span the spectrum of ‘Pre-conception to Career’. Our strategy has enabled us to scale the depth of our work for our direct beneficiaries, who number over 10,000 people. Our community’s children now benefit...
Job Skills Entrepreneurship Programme (JSEP) impact story
The Job Skills Entrepreneurship Programme (JSEP) addresses the problem of youth who are not able to attain a Matric certificate due to significant gaps in their educational foundations by providing vocational training and work experience. We believe that everyone...
A decade of providing accessible, rural healthcare
In our area, the nearest clinic or hospital is a difficult and dangerous day-long journey away. As a result of this inaccessible care, the health of our community has been severely compromised. So many people have been sick and dying needlessly from preventable and...
Self-Sustained Community Livestock Project
The lack of economic development in the former-Transkei region of the Eastern Cape is widely lamented, with 33% of households living on less than R800 per month (according to the latest census). While our area has vast arable land for crop farming, the primary...
Siyi Bulungula Community Radio.. We are BCR!
In our communities, access to electricity is limited, and few people have TVs. While smart phones are advancing the availability to information, the cost of data, erratic network and charging of devices are still major inhibitors to connection. Furthermore, 60% of our...
The Bulungula College graduates the most ever Matrics in a single year in our area!!
No-Ofisi Primary School before collapsing, 2007 Poverty and education are inextricably linked. Without quality education, a person is exceedingly limited in their options for a productive career, contributing to and compounding the many challenges of poverty. Lack of...
The power of an option for safety against COVID
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have responded with innovative solutions to protect our community members within the context of the communities we serve. In our area, where life is lived communally, there is little opportunity to social distance. With...
Reaching zero stunting in our communities
Proper nutrition is the foundation of child survival, health and development. A well nourished child is able to grow and learn in order to live full and productive lives. However, in South Africa it is estimated that about one in three children are stunted due to...
Our Health Programme is Nominated as Daily Maverick’s Community Champion of the Year!
Category: Community champion of the year. The people uplifting, defending and representing ordinary South Africans, often against all odds. "Working in partnership with the provincial health department, this NGO managed to ensure that all but two of the 200 people...
Support the Sustainable Development Goals this Giving Tuesday
On 25 September 2015, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development which outlines 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and tackle climate change by 2030. In support of the...
Shared learning approach between Masilime Sonke farmers and Job Skills Entrepreneurship Programme learners
The Bulungula Incubator is located in one of the poorest and most remote regions of the country with a surfeit of young unemployed people, who (through no fault of their own) have no access to education, capital or other necessary inputs for creating a productive...
Bulungula Health Point is Now an Accredited COVID-19 Vaccination Site
BI Administrators and Nomakhaya registering for COVID-19 vaccinations at Bulungula Health Point. Due to our success and excellent record working with Department of Health (DoH) to vaccinate our community, the Mbhashe sub-district supported the Bulungula Health Point...
Integrated Approach for Rural Early Childhood Development
We know that the first 1,000 days of life are essential for optimum health and development across a person’s lifetime. Given the challenges of inaccessible health care in our area, we realised we must take a holistic approach when addressing the needs of early...
Increasing Foundational Learning Through E-Learning
This week we celebrated International Literacy Day around the world to raise awareness and recognise the importance of literacy. Our world has made positive strides in providing access to education, however, quality learning and literacy challenges continue to persist...