Do you know the ethnic minority San?
The San are regarded as the indigenous people of southern Africa. Over the millennia, their living space has been increasingly restricted by the influx of the Bantu („Black Africans“) and Europeans. This also resulted in the loss of their culture.
Many San can no longer speak their language today, although one must understand that there is no such thing as the San language, but rather 7 different language groups within the San community exist. Each group speaks such a different language that they cannot understand one another, although to our ears the „clicks“ sound very similar.
Today, in Namibia…
Today, in Namibia, there are still some 10,000 San, impoverished, with poor or no healthcare and only rudimentary education. Their great knowledge of medicinal plants is taken to the grave with the older generation, and the younger ones somehow try to survive in an increasingly modernising society.
During the coronavirus crisis
During the coronavirus crisis, we are unfortunately observing a dramatic deterioration in the San's living conditions. 24 children from this ethnic minority group come to our project in Gobabis and are cared for and supported at school here together with other children from other tribes. Their parents, if they are still alive, previously eked out a living as day labourers and are now also dependent on external help.
No child, no person should be excluded because of a different language or culture.
There are now already approaches to involve the San more strongly in eco-tourism as experienced rangers. They pass on their knowledge as tour guides. While this development is being actively supported by German development aid, want to secure the existence of all those who continue to live below the subsistence minimum and who also have only a limited chance of finding work in the formal sector in the foreseeable future.
What can you do?
Above all, through our Guardian Angel programme, we can provide sustainable support to the San and contribute to the inclusion of the San.
