Who is in the Spotlight

Bernadine Oosthuizen was born and raised in Zimbabwe. She immigrated to Australia when she was 18 and became a citizen, later returning to Zimbabwe to get married and commence a life of farming with her husband. Just 9 months later, their farm was taken from them in the ‘land reform program’.

They moved to Zambia to join in-laws on a family farm they started when they also lost their Zimbabwean farms. They were there for a little over 5 years but unfortunately lost those farms too. They decided to immigrate to Australia with their young daughter.

Starting from zero was hard since they had lost everything. Today, they are the proud owners of a small farm (just over 30 acres) and have planted a 10-acre macadamia orchard. Maintaining the orchard keeps them well occupied.

Bernadine also works as an admin/accounts clerk for a local cabinet maker. She is the mother of three girls, aged 11, 9 & 7, and still manages to volunteer for sporting organisations and a school.

Bernadine started with bookkeeping for small clients in Zambia and worked remotely for a luxury safari lodge on the Zambezi river. She continued to work for them for about 3 years after she immigrated to Australia.

Remote bookkeeping for Swag Bookkeeping allows Bernadine to supplement the family income, whilst juggling her family and work priorities and being engaged with her local community. She is a valued member of the Swag Bookkeeping team.