Article: Opening of the Gathering Trail at !Khwa ttu The San Culture & Education Centre

Opening of the Gathering Trail at !Khwa ttu

The official opening of the gathering trail took place on 24 February 2010 at the Khwa ttu San Culture and Education Centre. The guests gathered outside the restaurant on the grass and enjoyed their cool drinks.

Michael Daiber, our CEO, welcomed our guests and thanked them for coming to the opening of the trail. He told all of us about the history of !Khwa ttu and also of the gathering trail. After Michael spoke, Irene Staehelin took over and delivered a short speech about !Khwa ttu and her involvement in the centre. She thanked all the people who helped with the trail. She particularly thanked Axel Thoma, who did all the hard work to make this trail a success. He did not seem to have felt the sun and did not complain a single day.

Then Collin Louw told us about WIMSA and he also wished us, the trainee guides good luck with our training. He thanked Magdalena for all the work she has done by training us and also Axel and us for making the gathering trail a success. Collin came all the way from Upington in the Northern Cape to be with us.

Baba Festus, !Khwa ttu’s operational manager, then told us what we could expect from the programme. After “her few minutes of fame” as she put it, she handed over to Oupa Carlos and Auntie Donika to bless and open the trail. The three guides André, Ivan and Kerson introduced themselves to the guests. André told all of us what the San people did in the past and what they have in mind these days. He explained, “There was a time when my forefathers lived freely and a time when things changed and we had to share the land with others. But today there is hope again!” Then Kerson and Oupa Carlos described the artwork of the San people from Platfontein on the long wall of the exhibition.

We then all walked to the first theme circle of the plant trail.  André told us about the traditional uses of the plants. For example, how to make tea from the cancer bush leaves.

The cancer bush is used by my people as a health tea to prevent and treat kidney and cancer diseases.

At the replica traditional village our guests tasted the snake berries cooked with eland meat and they enjoyed it very much. Auntie Donika and Oupa Carlos told a stories in their languages and Kerson translated them. Auntie Donika’s story was about a pregnant woman who went into the veldt to collect food. She gave birth there in the veldt. Oupa Carlos’ story was about a man who fell in love with a girl and he asked the girl out.  But the girl rejected him because she thought he was ugly. Everyday the man played the thumb piano and called the girl’s name. The girl’s parents heard the man calling their daughter’s name every day and they decided to give the girl to the man. So in the end the man did marry the girl.

Auntie Donika and Oupa Carlos also performed a dance and sang a song. All of us enjoyed the dance. And in this good mood our guests went to the restaurant for lunch.  

Juliana Seekoei, trainee guide and ‡Khomani woman from the southern Kalahari, South Africa