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Overview
of Activities
in 2002/03
Education
and Training
The
WIMSA General Assembly, San traditional and community leaders and
individual members of San communities region-wide urged for the
continuation of the WIMSA training programmes and regional education
programme. It is considered to be of utmost importance that WIMSA
offers on-the-job training for San at its regional office in Windhoek,
theme-centred workshops for San traditional authorities and artisan
training courses at the !Khwa ttu San Culture and Education Centre
in South Africa, and that it supports San early childhood development
and helps build the capacities of San youth through tertiary and
other forms of further education. A key development for WIMSA’s
Regional San Education Programme was the appointment of Yvonne Pickering
as WIMSA Regional Education Advisor to take over from Education
and Culture Co-ordinator Willemien le Roux whose contract with WIMSA
expired. The pilot San Public Relations Officers Course run by the
University Centre for Studies in Namibia (TUCSIN) continued in the
period under review, and a new training programme was introduced
for San in Namibia, i.e. paralegal training provided by the Legal
Assistance Centre for interested San community members who meet
the requirements. A crucial development for San education was the
first official meeting of the newly established Southern African
San Education Forum (SASEF), a body composed of representatives
of government education departments, San NGOs/CBOs and San communities,
tasked to oversee San education across the region – initially
in Namibia, South Africa and Botswana, and when circumstances permit,
in Angola, Zambia and Zimbabwe as well.
Heritage
and Culture
The
various organs of WIMSA have time and again emphasised that the
San will succeed in their ongoing struggle for justice, dignity
and control of their own destiny as a people if the younger generations
are convinced that traditional cultural values and the advantages
of modern life can be balanced. In tandem with the wider public’s
growing interest in San traditional knowledge, values and beliefs,
San youth are coming to realise that culture can instil pride in
a person and sometimes has substantial economic value. Their heritage
and culture have become significantly more important to San communities
around the region since the publication of the first oral history
book by the Khwe of the Okavango Panhandle in Botswana, the official
acknowledgment of the San’s prior intellectual property rights
to the Hoodia succulent as an appetite suppressant, and the invitation
from South African government bodies to participate in the planning
of exhibitions to focus on San affairs.
Institutional
Capacity-building
Besides
capacity-building measures incorporated as a fundamental component
of most WIMSA training activities, its Regional San Education Programme
and its negotiations on intellectual property rights, the activities
covered in this section of the report either paved the way for institutional
capacity-building or enhanced existing capacities in San organisations
and communities. In March 2003, for the first time since the organisation’s
inception in 1996, WIMSA organised a trip for Khwe of South Africa
and Namibia to visit their fellow Khwe in north-western Zambia,
with the aim of conducting a preliminary assessment of the situation
of the San in that area in terms of land, education, health and
social issues. The historic first workshop involving San of Angola,
South Africa and Namibia in 2001 was followed by intensive communication
between WIMSA and the Lubango-based Young Men’s Christian
Association (YMCA) which developed into a service organisation,
Organização Cristã de Apoio ao Desenvolvimento
Comunitário (OCADEC), catering specifically to San communities.
Meetings of the South African San Council, the biannual gatherings
of the WIMSA Board of Trustees and the annual WIMSA General Assembly
meetings are essential capacity-building mechanisms for the San
of southern Africa.
Activities Addressing HIV/AIDS
Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Lesotho and Zimbabwe have the highest
HIV prevalence rates in southern Africa – Botswana the highest
in the world. For years already WIMSA has taken a holistic approach
to tackling HIV/AIDS in that the issue is addressed in all WIMSA
programmes and activities wherever possible. Aspects of the issue
covered include breaking the silence on HIV/AIDS and reducing stigmatisation,
prevention measures, voluntary testing, medical treatment, caring
for San infected with and affected by HIV/AIDS, and the social and
economic impacts of the pandemic on WIMSA’s own capacity and
that of its member organisations. In the period under review these
and other HIV/AIDS-related issues were discussed on an individual
level with WIMSA trainees and as part of their on-the-job training
course at WIMSA’s office, as well as in Friday afternoon ‘open-day’
sessions at the office with San public relations students, the weekly
WIMSA management meetings, the board meetings, the General Assembly,
and other gatherings in which it was appropriate to take the issues
up. WIMSA team members participated in a number of workshops on
HIV/AIDS in this reporting period. In 2002 WIMSA submitted a project
proposal to Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) for “A Community-based
HIV/AIDS Awareness Campaign Targeting San in the Omaheke Region,
Namibia”.
San
Human Rights
Peace in Angola has stabilised the situation of the Namibian San
across the border in West Caprivi, and that of the San in Tsumkwe
District West who seemingly no longer face the threat of thousands
of refugees (mainly Angolan) being relocated to their area. But
several other major San human rights issues have yet to be resolved.
An ongoing obstacle to securing San human rights in Namibia is the
government’s continued denial of offical recognition for the
three (out of five) San traditional authorities still not recognised.
The situation of the G|ui and G||ana who were relocated from the
Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) in Botswana has not improved,
and San in Botswana’s Central District now face an imminent
threat of losing rights to communal land which they have occupied
for centuries. The little that is known about the situation of the
San in Angola is extremely disturbing: the majority of them are
said to have no work prospects and no access to education and basic
services, and on the whole their communities are starving, and mortality
among them is ever-increasing due to hunger and untreated illnesses
such as TB, typhoid fever and malaria. WIMSA’s planned assessment
of the situation of the Angolan San will reveal the extent of their
reportedly desolate circumstances and hopefully point to practical
solutions to ease their plight.
Land
and Natural Resources
Confidence in the fact that the San communities of Tsumkwe District
West in Namibia will realise their aspiration of enhancing their
livelihood through the long-awaited N‡a Jaqna Conservancy
is fading by the year. The communities submitted their application
for a conservancy in 1998 and to date the Ministry of Environment
and Tourism (MET) has not informed the N‡a Jaqna Conservancy
Committee whether or not the conservancy will be granted. In addition
to this profound disappointment, the communities are falling prey
to an influx of cattle belonging to other ethnic groups in the area
and illegal occupations of land in the area by other groups which
pose a serious threat to the conservancy development plans. WIMSA’s
Victoria Geingos presented a paper focusing on this threat and other
issues relating to San land rights, titled “San, Land Rights
and Development: Can San survive without land?”, at the “Indigenous
Rights in Commonwealth Africa Meeting” in Cape Town, South
Africa, in October 2002.
International
Co-operation
In
the period under review WIMSA received numerous invitations to participate
in international conferences, consultative meetings, seminars and
workshops. While the San are pleased that their expertise on San
and other indigenous cultures, current affairs and development issues
are in high demand internationally, they also find this demand a
heavy burden as only a few San possess the organisational, administrative,
linguistic and representational skills required for participation
in such events. WIMSA has encouraged its member and support organisations
to build capacity, develop writing skills and enhance English language
skills among San interested in representing all San of the region
at international level. The few San who possess the required skills
represented WIMSA in fora including the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous
Issues, World Summit on Sustainable Development preparatory meetings,
the XIIth International Oral History Conference, the International
Consultation on Children and HIV/AIDS, the Indigenous People’s
Film Festival and a number of international and regional workshops
on various issues.
WIMSA team member Victoria Geingos presenting to
WIMSA legal advisor Roger Chennells a ‘Hoodia scrapbook’
as a gesture of the organisation’s appreciation of his
continuous support and advice in negotiating San rights
to the Hoodia with South Africa’s Council for Scientific
and Industrial Research (CSIR).
Networking
Networking at local, regional and international levels is one key
aspect of WIMSA’s work. In the period under review the regional
WIMSA team, the WIMSA Botswana team in D’Kar and the WIMSA
board members stayed in close contact with all WIMSA member organisations
through a number of regional events, direct contact with individual
member organisations and indirect contact via WIMSA support organisations
including IRDNC in Namibia, Trócaire in Angola, SASI in South
Africa and Letloa in Botswana. WIMSA also continued networking with
various NGOs and UN agencies, ministries, education institutions,
academics, human rights societies, the media, and of course, WIMSA
donors.
WIMSA Co-ordinator Axel Thoma and his Counterpart,
Joram |Useb, in a discussion at the regional office in Windhoek.
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