Milimani Educational Trust

The Milimani Educational Trust is my love child.

The Trust was established in 2001 and having had no children, I believe God looked me squarely in the eyes and gave me a mission to nurture and support hundreds of children and teachers in three communities of Sovane, Maphambeni and KwaDla-Kuse.

In 2000 my late husband, Ken, and I relocated from Kenya and settled in a remote, challenging part of northern KwaZulu-Natal. The Milimani Game Sanctuary (now Somkhanda Game Reserve) is nestled in an oxbow, surrounded by the Mkuze River. The neighbouring deep rural communities have daily struggles and the Trust was established to encourage responsible tourism and to assist the communities so that we could develop mutually beneficial relationships.

In April 2005 Milimani Game Sanctuary was sold to the government as part of a land claim. Ken passed away in May 2005 and my life was turned upside down. Despite these life-changing moments, the Trust continued over the past 20 years, growing from strength to strength.

Our core focus is to fill the pantry, ensuring that children receive one substantial meal a day during the school term. We invest in teacher education and currently work with Singakwenza to teach parents and teachers early childhood development skills using recycled material.

During COVID we delivered over five food drops to the three communities.

In 2020 we built St. Peter’s Anglican Church, which has become a catalyst in offering support on so many levels. On the 30th of October 2022 the Rt. Dr. VV Mnculwane, Bishop of Zululand, Dedicated the church.

Christmas is a special time and we hand out over 160 gifts at the three creches. We started this Christmas spirit in 2014 with the amazing generosity of St. Michael’s Anglican Parish in Umhlanga and Kids Talk in Durban. In 2022 Pongola Academy and Rooikrans Creche in Pongola contributed enormously with clothes and toys, and Vodacom supplied the bags.

We receive funding and goods in kind from St. Michael’s Anglican Parish (Umhlanga), Kids Talk in Durban, Baletha Foundation, Graham Caritas Trust, Marble Tech, Triangle Sourcing and the Oldham family and friends in the UK.

Milimani Educational Trust is a ‘fishes and five loaves’ project. By the grace of God, we manage to do so much with little. Every cent that is donated goes to the community.