By Dr Sarah Venter

Information board at Big Tree

Every day, people visit the Madifha-Zwigodini Big Tree, also known as Sagole tree. It is one of the largest baobab trees in the world, and its enormous size inspires awe. It is remarkable that a single tree can grow so big. To enrich the visitor experience, the Baobab Foundation funded an information board at the entrance to the visitor area. [...] Continue Reading
By Dr Sarah Venter

Fresh Signs, Bright Starts

Over time, the signboards at the pre-schools faded and, in some cases, became damaged, so we decided to replace them. With the help of Prince Musekwa of EcoProducts, we erected new boards at Zwigodini and Denzhe Preschools.
By Sarah Venter

Domboni Community Preschool complete!

Domboni Preschool was started by Mavis Tshiwela with to support the early childhood development of the children in her village of Domboni.  A tiny (3 x 3 meter) room is all she had which did not have a roof, windows or door.  In 2023 the Baobab Foundation helped her fix up the room and build toilets for the children and [...] Continue Reading
By Dr Sarah Venter

Preschools receive toy boxes

Tshokotshoko village lies in a very remote part of the baobab area north of the Soutpansberg mountains.  The village is small and the Preschool supports the early education of the little children of the village.  Many of the children do not have toys to play with at home so the one place that they are able to learn to play [...] Continue Reading
By Dr Sarah Venter

Paint to brighten Denzhe PreSchool

During heavy rain and high winds the roof of Denzhe PreSchool was blown off.  With the help of local businesses the roof was repaired, but no paint was provided to touch up the freshly plastered walls.  The Baobab Foundation provided paint in all the different colours to get the Preschool back to the way its meant to look.
By Dr Sarah Venter

Baobab Books to 1000 Primary School Learners

On completing my PhD on the ecology of baobabs in northern Venda I decided to write an easy-to-read booklet on baobabs.  The purpose of this booklet was to share the importance knowledge of baobabs I had gained with South Africans and in particular the people who live in the area I did my research.  In 2016 I completed the booklet [...] Continue Reading
By Dr Sarah Venter

A fence and gate for Domboni Preschool

There are so many unforeseen needs of a preschool, the most important is a fence.   A few moths ago the Baobab Foundation helped Principal Mavis Tshiwela renovate a rundown building to create a classroom for her learners.  The next job was to put up a fence and a gate that would keep the children from wondering off and the preschool [...] Continue Reading
By Dr Sarah Venter

Baobab Foundation helps new Matatani Preschool with equipment

Matatani PreSchool opened its doors in February 2024, but the classrooms were bare.  There were no chairs and tables for the teachers, no buckets to collect water, no cooking pots for making food and so much more was missing that the school was about to close just as it opened. The container-buildings were donated by the University of Johannesburg as [...] Continue Reading
By Dr Sarah Venter

I live under a baobab, don’t know much about it, but now I do!

Nearly every child in Africa knows what a baobab tree is.  Nearly child in Africa eats baobab powder.  But beyond knowing what the tree looks like and that it has a nutritious fruit, very little is generally known about their ecology.   The Little Big Baobab Book (free pdf download available here) addresses FAQ’s of baobabs.  Translated into TshiVenda and easy [...] Continue Reading
By Dr Sarah Venter

A fresh coat of paint for Mutele B Preschool

Once a year we reach out to some Preschools in areas where baobabs grow and ask them what they need.  This year we supported the Mutale B Preschool with sourcing the exact colour paint required for their classroom renovations.