Almost
a thousand kilometres north east of Windhoek, in Namibia, the
San communities live in one of the few green terrains in this
largely desert country. The place is called Tsumkwe.
The San, also known as the Basarwa or Khwe, are the oldest inhabitants
of southern Africa where they have lived for at least 20,000
years. Their home was the Kalahari Desert, which is now divided
between Botswana, Namibia, Angola and South Africa.
Away from most modern technologies, the majority of the San
communities are still living like their ancestors. Electricity,
clean water and sanitation, telephone roads and computers are
not part of their everyday life. Instead, like a thousand years
ago, it still revolves around their typically natural environment,
especially hunting. However, the natural resources that are
the sources of their livelihood, are fast getting depleted.
So there is a need for them to slowly adapt to a new life.
The Namibia Red Cross Society is one of the few organisations
that have decided to take the challenge of helping the San people
to adapt to modern life. “We decided to implement a risk
reduction programme here to try and help the San people adapt
to small scale farming,” said Razia Essack Kauaria, the
Secretary General of Namibia Red Cross. “It is beyond
any argument that the wildlife is generally and gradually depleting
as a result of different factors. And that alone would leave
these communities vulnerable.”
2005 was a bad year for the San communities as they were among
the worst hit by food insecurity in southern Africa. As the
rain season faltered, the small fields wilted under the scorching
sun. There was no other source of food except eating scarce
wild leaves, roots and wildlife. So the help of Namibia Red
Cross was more than welcome.
“I can’t wait to start planting. The rains have
been good to us and I have a lot of work ahead of me to make
sure my children and my communities get enough food,”
said Ngugas, a Tsumkwe villager. The Namibia Red Cross Society
distributed 4 kg of maize seed, 20 kg of fertilizer and 20g
of various vegetable seed per household. This was enough to
feed over 50 people and to keep some of it for the next season.
It also allowed them to sell some of the harvest to buy other
basic products and raise money to buy other basic products.
The Red Cross seed distribution operation was targeted at approximately
2,000 households in the Kavango, Caprivi and Tsumkwe areas,
to benefit vulnerable people such as the San communities, orphans
and vulnerable children and home-based care clients participating
in the HIV and Tuberculosis programme. This is seen as a positive
beginning to a long journey and the Namibia Red Cross wants
to do more with the communities, if funds permit.
“Given this background it is imperative for us as a humanitarian
organization to work with these communities and ensure that
they adapt to this new life. But it is important to say we are
very pleased with the cooperation that we are getting from the
San people. They are willing to cooperate,” added Razia.
One of the San Chiefs is convinced that this intervention will
certainly mark a turning point for his communities. “It
is obvious that we now live differently from the nomadic life
we were used to for centuries. In Omatako, we can now see real
homes, a primary school, a small clinic, crop fields and even
livestock such as goats and cattle,” said San Chief John
Arnold of Omatako village. “I am really honored to witness
this chapter of evolution in our lives. As a San person faced
with food insecurity, the seed helps us to defeat hunger,”
he added.
But this is just the beginning of a new journey to modern day
life with more challenges ahead. The San people, due to their
reluctance to intermarry with other tribes, have been spared
for a long time from the deadly HIV and AIDS pandemic that is
threatening the lives of millions of people in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The prevalence rate is still very low, though some medical specialists
have hinted that the San people are now vulnerable to an epidemic.
Historically the San people used to marry very young. Most marriages
are monogamous though polygamy is practiced sometimes according
to wealth.
In most San community tribes, hunting used to be regarded as
of great importance in obtaining a wife. Killing a large, sometimes
dangerous animal would earn a hunter a wife with the best part
of the meat presented to the girl's parents as a marriage proposal.
Perhaps these cultural practices may have contributed to the
reduced HIV prevalence today.
But things are changing. A nice gravel road has made it possible
for tourists, development workers and many other people from
outside the Tsumkwe to travel to the area. Small shops and service
centers have been established.
“The San communities are now mixing with other tribes
which expose them to HIV. We are now witnessing intermarriages
among different tribes, says Miss Naemi Heita, the programme
director for Namibia Red Cross. “Because of the few developmental
projects that are being implemented in their area, some of them
are being pressured to adopt the new lifestyle which is far
beyond their reach. This may result in young girls getting involved
in transactional sex.”
“They are few people here who are already on antiretroviral
treatment,” said Dr Melitta Bosshart, the doctor in charge
at Mangeti hospital. “Though the numbers are still very
low we have established a home- based care programme together
with the Red Cross to promote the culture of home caring among
the San people. But the highest number of cases here are Tuberculosis
patients due to overcrowding and poverty,” she added.
Though the situation may look under control, analysts have indicated
that Namibia has a high co-infection of HIV and TB which may
spell disaster for the San communities.
“The young people here are now getting attracted to this
new fast life, which is further exposing them to high risk activities,”
says Dr Bosshart.
“And we have worked towards reducing the spread of the
virus in a community that still has high illiteracy levels.
We are working with Red Cross here to carry out prevention activities.”
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A
head of a village in Tsumkwe explains to a Red Cross officer
how they use their bows and arrows when hunting. (p15182)
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During
difficult times, they resort to eating wild leaves which
are crushed in small wooden pounding mortar. The food
eaten soon after pounding. (p15186)
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A
hut like this can accommodate four to seven people which
accelerates the spread of TB among the San Communities.
(p15184)
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Knowledge
of HIV and AIDS is still very low among the San communities.
Some elderly people like this woman have never heard about
the disease. (p15183)
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