For hundreds of South African children, an early release from school meant the difference between life and death when a tornado ripped through their village, destroying the small school trailer classroom some of them had occupied.  A teachers’ conference allowed the children to leave their Shongani Village School early at 11 a.m., only 90 minutes before the twister rampaged through the village.  

When the school children returned, they found their trailer classroom torn to shreds.   

Although no one in the village was killed, their small school trailer lay in ruins.  But thanks to a partnership between the school, U.S. Africa Command and the Department of State, the children are now back in the classroom.

"The community is poor and the education department does not provide much for our school, so I was happy for the assistance that was provided,” said Mhangwaha K. Samuel, the principal of Shongani Primary School.

After the tornado struck, the school was forced to hold classes outdoors with just a tree providing protection from the hot South African sun and pouring rainstorms.  Luckily, prior to the tornado, officials at the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria, South Africa and U.S. African Command’s Humanitarian Assistance Program had approved a project providing new four-block school classrooms.  Local contractors recently completed the classrooms, and on April 4, the children resumed their education in safer, permanent structures.

The new school was paid for through USAFRICOM’s use of the Overseas Humanitarian, Disaster and Civic Aid (OHDACA) appropriation.  The new classrooms cost $200,000 and also provided new bathroom facilities for the school children.   Within only months of the destruction officials were cutting the ribbon on the new school which currently has more than 250 children in attendance.

“I wish there was something that the school and the local community could do to express our appreciation," said a very grateful Samuel.

In addition to education, the U.S. Embassy Mission Strategic Plan references HIV/AIDS as a priority issue in this area.  The Shongani Primary School project addresses both of these issues.

AFRICOM is one of six of the U.S. Defense Department's geographic unified commands and is responsible to the Secretary of Defense for military relations with African nations, the African Union, and African regional security organizations.

AFRICOM oversees all U.S. Department of Defense operations, exercises, and security cooperation with African nations. AFRICOM’s core mission of assisting African states and regional organizations to strengthen their defense capabilities better enables partner nations to address their security threats and advances U.S. national security interests through focused, sustained engagement with partners in support of shared security objectives.