Educational Support is an important empowerment programme for the San community The San Culture & Education Centre

Education Support Programme

In order to provide a combination of traditional and formal education for the San children, youth and adults living and working at !Khwa ttu the Education Support Programme has recently been established. The programme consists of a crèche and kindergarten for the children aged one to three years, after-school care for primary school learners and the Adult-based Education and Training [ABET] course for adolescents and interested adult employees.

Currently 13 San children are attending the Darling Primary School, who meet each afternoon with the !Khwa ttu Education Co-ordinator at the kindergarten facilities, where they enjoy intensive after-school care. Once a month parents have an opportunity to discuss the academic and social performance of their children with the Education Co-ordinator. It is also planned to assist the parents in preparing for parents-teacher meetings at the Darling Primary School in order to encourage them to represent their children’s interest.

Sessions for children, who are at kindergarten age continue to be held at !Khwa ttu from 8h30 to 13h00. On a regular basis parents are invited to meetings, where early childhood as the critical time for intellectual and social development is discussed.

Adolescents have entered the ABET programme, which is taught three times a week at the loft of the Centre’s administration building. During the mornings the youth are involved in practical training in horticulture hospitality and early childhood development. In addition, they are expanding their knowledge about edible and medicinal plants of the fynbos family.

Characteristics of San culture are an essential part of the !Khwa ttu Education Support Programme. The crèche and kindergarten curriculum, as well as the after-school care for the primary school children include storytelling, tracking demonstrations, hunting and other games and traditional dances. As a practical way of regaining pride in their heritage the ABET youth have begun dramatizing traditional stories.

Community Based Training

Since 2008, four groups of an average of ten young San women and men from Namibia, Botswana and South Africa have participated in a nine-month training programme at !Khwa ttu. The tailor-made San Community-based Tourism and Hospitality Training is a combination of classroom-based course work, workshops, on-the-job training and practical projects such as creating a trail of medicinal and edible plants. The curriculum covers a wide range of subjects; some of them being rock art, San issues, nature and cultural guiding, botany, computer skills, hospitality, sustainable tourism, basic business matters, healthy living and life skills.

The opportunity of applying newly-acquired knowledge and skills during the on-the-job training on the weekends has been and still is greatly appreciated by the trainees. The possibility of planning and implementing a project from beginning to end under the guidance of a landscape architect gives them a deep sense of ownership and confidence to replicate the projects in their home communities.  Another aspect of the training which has been emphasized by all trainees is the fact that they learn about San groups other than their own communities and get to know fellow trainees hailing from these previously unknown groups.

In order to make our training even more attractive !Khwa ttu, in 2011, initiated the process of applying for accreditation as a training provider with CATHSSETA. This process entails the development of additional staff members as qualified trainers and assessors, the compilation of existing training materials into training manuals, the identification of internships in the tourism industry, and the planning of further specialization training courses. The first of these specialization courses, the San Curators Programme, is currently being trialed. It is anticipated that we will achieve accreditation of our first two NQF[1]-aligned training components, namely Nature and Cultural Guiding Programmes, in South Africa in the second half of 2012.  We will also be working towards the regional recognition of our training which will hopefully be achieved by the end of 2014.

For more information on !Khwa ttu's training and accreditation activities, contact us at education@khwattu.co.za.org 

Curators Based Training

As an opportunity of further learning and an integral part of !Khwa ttu’s new Cultural Programme a 12-month curators programme was started in November 2011 with Magdalena Lucas and Jobe Gabototwe as first participants. Both are graduates of !Khwa ttu’s San guides training programme.

The programme includes lectures and workshops by industry leaders on issues of curatorial and critical practice, facilitation of contemporary and historical (San) cultural events, in-depth research assignments, as well as opportunities to gain hands-on experience through residencies and internships with !Khwa ttu's partners in South(ern) Africa and overseas.

The programme will empower the young curators to develop programmes in the spheres of arts, culture, heritage and tourism in their home communities in Botswana, Namibia, the Kalahari and elsewhere upon their return.

Whilst the Curators Programme develops solid professional curatorial skills, it also keeps its ear to the ground - encouraging new ideas and networks to build representative San exhibitions and performances that engage !Khwa ttu's diverse target audiences.