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In this issue we report on crucial and even historic events in both the world of the San communities and that of !Khwa ttu. Hopefully you will experience a glimpse of the dedication and enthusiasm that accompanied the First Angolan San Conference. You will certainly be impressed by the opportunities not only a travel indaba but also an international forum of indigenous people provides in promoting !Khwa ttu.

Our readers, who have already experienced our products are most welcome to examine the views and recommendations of the recently finalised !Khwa ttu Business Plan. Please add your own suggestions!

Enjoy!

The !Khwa ttu team

www.khwattu.org

Let me thank you for the instructive Khwa ttu Newsletter No. 3. It shows how much lKhwa ttu is on the move!
Göpf Berweger, Ubuntu Foundation board member, Bern, Switzerland

Thank you very much for another impressive edition of the !Khwattu Newsletter. With a lot of information in my mind now, I am looking forward to visiting the centre possibly in the near future.
Keep up with the good work!
Hiltrut Walter, Windhoek, Namibia

!Khwa ttu #3 is an especially informative and interesting issue. I especially liked the pieces on the Darling Primary pupils and on tourism. Both are written primarily from the San-pupils' and guides'-perspective, which enhances their meaning. Both schooling and tourism are experiences of great significance to the San people today as they connect the San to the people around them and help them engage the latters' world. Elisabeth’s comment, about the school experience eliciting for her a sense of freedom, is especially poignant, as is Johan Vaalbooi's statement about how his sense of confidence is boosted through his encounter with tourists (especially the "good" ones). This confidence helps him and his colleagues also to deal with the "bad" tourists, whose "books" derived preconceptions about the San they recognize and correct in their interaction with their tourist visitors.
Prof Mathias Guenther, Department of Anthropology, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

Thank you for sending me the !Khwa ttu Newsletter.
I truly enjoyed reading the Newsletter. I particularly like the mix of news, which makes it very lively. The centre sounds as a fantastic initiative and I wish it much success. I'll certainly do my best to visit it some day - hopefully!
Diana Vinding, International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA), Copenhagen, Denmark

Thank you for sending us the third newsletter, the first one for us to receive. It looks good: informative and having interesting links. You might even want to include links to related organisations like Kuru's website. I wonder if many people will be interested in "Readers' views". The newsletter gives extensive information.
May you produce many more newsletters, may you have many readers and may the cause of the San people be furthered by the newsletter!
Hessel and Coby Visser, Naro Language Project, Gantsi, Botswana

Thanks for the new !Khwa tuu Newsletter 3. It gives a good overview about the activities at the Cultural and Education Centre and I read it with great pleasure. Working with Hai||om San from Etosha who also want to get involved in tourism, especially the article about the experiences of the tour guides with tourists was very interesting.
I have never visited !Khwa ttu, but I hope that I'll get the possibility to visit it one day. It must be a very impressive experience.
Ute Dieckmann, Institute of Social Anthropology, University of Cologne, Germany

A travel Indaba , in which 1 600 local and international exhibitors, 12 000 visitors and about 500 travel journalists participate, where networking sessions are a key component and where even social gatherings offer opportunities to draw attention to one’s tourism product can not be missed by !Khwa ttu. Therefore !Khwa ttu manager Michael Daiber and San tourist guide Kondino Samba flew for the second consecutive year to Durban to promote !Khwa ttu at the Indaba. They found themselves in the company of the full variety of products that ranged from eco-tourism to cultural tourism, from safari to adventure and to business tourism.

Kondino and Michael agree that not only the four days at the Indaba were extremely busy but the preparation for this significant event also took a lot of their time. “Before travelling to the Indaba I advertised our stand by email to the other exhibitors” Kondino recalls. Additionally, a well thought through package consisting of a nine-minute DVD about !Khwa ttu’s inviting amenities, a brochure, a price list, general background information and a business card was put together for tour operators, who would show genuine interest in !Khwa ttu.

Michael explains, “operators are sceptic to do business with a new product, they need to have reassurance that the product is here to stay and can live up to its promises”. Therefore “for us the most important objective was to create awareness. Firstly among those, who have never heard of !Khwa ttu and secondly among those, who know that we exist but need assurance that we are still around”. To raise awareness of !Khwa ttu Kondino and Michael had plenty of opportunities. While one of them described !Khwa ttu’s striking offers by showing the DVD on the laptop screen at the stand, the other approached exhibitors and tour operators in the various halls. The one-word sign !Khwa ttu drew also a number of the delegates to the stand as they were keen to learn about the meaning of this uncommon word.

On his way through the halls organised by the nine South African provinces, Kondino realised that “other cultural centres also offer tours to their traditional villages, but there is one big difference: the Zulu and Xhosa people really live in the village”, which he obviously finds attractive. Consequently he suggests, “we should also invite elderly San to stay at the !Khwa ttu village. There the women should show the tourists how they produce ostrich eggshell necklaces and the men should make fire and tell the tourists stories”. He further reports that some of the tour operators made suggestions which referred to “a tour which should include an ostrich farm, !Khwa ttu and other attractions; a ‘West Coast Tour’. Others said we should offer a whole day not just a two-hour tour, which should include a meal at the !Khwa ttu restaurant”.

The experience has taught Michael that contacts established with local Cape Townian operators are most valuable as they are “often the gateway to international operators, who trust them to have all the local knowledge”. Kondino concludes that the follow up work to the Indaba is now crucial. “We have a book in which we put all the business cards [of the tour operators] and where we noted down the most important points about our conversation”. He is confident that the network Michael and he have established will bear fruits very soon.

“An authentic cultural attraction with an emphasis on cultural enrichment and learning” and “a soulful meeting place a stone’s throw from the city, yet a world apart” are some of the flattering descriptions of !Khwa ttu by the consultants, who have recently completed a comprehensive business plan for the centre. The two consultants’ systematic examination of !Khwa ttu’s place in the Western Cape tourism industry ranges from a ‘tourism sector overview’ to a ‘market analyses’ with a separate chapter on ‘competitors and benchmarks’ and a ‘marketing plan’ as well as a ‘financial plan’. The document is also peppered with numerous recommendations.

According to the consultants !Khwa ttu offers three attractive main experiences, which include business meetings in the countryside, “a day or short break getaway destination” and most importantly, learning options about many aspects of San community life. However, despite these inviting characteristics the centre faces a number of constraints. They are meticulously listed in the consultants’ SWOT analyses of !Khwa ttu’s internal and external environment. According to the analyses the points of strengths include the “authenticity of experience as a result of guiding and interpretation by San guides”, the “proximity to other attractions with [a] strong educational focus”, the ‘’affordability of accommodation”, the “panoramic views” and the short distance to Cape Town. The weaknesses are related to the fact that the West Coast, where !Khwa ttu is located, does not appear on the routine schedules of the tour operators and that this part of the Western Cape Province is perceived as a mere ‘sun, sea and sand’ destination with the short-lived attraction of the wildflower season in August /September. Furthermore they point out that there is a “lack of market awareness of !Khwa ttu among the key industry demand generators” and that the “educational product [is] under-developed and not ‘market-ready’”. Some of the external environment opportunities refer to both the utilisation of !Khwa ttu “as a catalyst for increased tourism to the area” since it is “a physical and virtual gateway to knowledge of the San” and to the “growing demand by international tourists for tourist facilities and attractions outside main tourism areas”. The catalogue of threats encompasses the “ever-decreasing length of stay of international tourists”, the low popularity of cultural and educational sites among South Africans and the increasing competition in cultural attractions.

In order to take advantage of the above-mentioned opportunities and at the same time to overcome the weaknesses !Khwa ttu is currently facing, the consultants provide ample suggestions. As one of the features of their marketing strategy they recommend to apply “a variable pricing structure” that entails “quantity discount, special group rates and packages”. They also provide a number of promotion tools such as advertorials in newspapers, promotions on radio programmes, direct mail and “listing on tourism organisation websites”, which could be handled by the !Khwa ttu public relations officer. The suggested !Khwa ttu website, an informative brochure and regular participation in travel shows were already in place before the business plan was written. In this context the consultants highlight the importance of “regular person-to-person surveys”. A data collection based on the survey responses would reveal the most effective promotional tools and also assists in developing a precise market profile. With regard to the !Khwa ttu products the consultants advise that a non-motorised educational group tour should be designed, evening excursions to the replica village with story-telling around the fire should be provided, special events such as themed weekends and talks should be offered, the range of authentic craft items at the craft shop should be expanded and the menu variety at the restaurant should be broadened. The consultants are well aware that the implementation of their various suggestions depends on staff availability, professional qualifications and the budget.

All parties, who have read the !Khwa ttu business plan agree that it provides valuable analyses, useful information and stimulating recommendations. The document will certainly ignite a number of discussions among all people concerned with !Khwa ttu.

While the younger !Khwa ttu children transferred to the Darling Primary School at the beginning of the year 2007, the !Khwa ttu adolescents were given the opportunity to join government’s Adult Based Education and Training (ABET). An energetic group of five boys and one girl between the ages of 13 and 17 years joined level 1 of the four-level ABET course. Riwen welcomed this chance because “it makes it possible for me to finish my schooling”. Rita, a shy young women, is clearly enthusiastic that computer skills are part of the ABET curriculum. “We play games to learn how to move the mouse. It is fun to play games and learn something at the same time”. The other youths certainly share Rita’s excitement about computer skills and some of the young men are also keen to enhance their English vocabulary. André thinks the reason for this is “that many people in the world speak English”, indicating that communication with the broader world is important to him and his fellow students. Mathematics is also taught in English as their teacher Mary-Ann Schreuder thought that her students had already a sound knowledge of the basic numeracy offered at level 1. At the beginning of June, everyone was looking forward to both completing ABET level 1 soon and beginning with level 2, which adds life skills as a new subject after the winter holidays

When Mary-Anne Schreuder offered the adult !Khwa ttu employees to teach them literacy, computer skills and English communication a few hours a week, six women and six men immediately enrolled in her classes. After the first month of being taught literacy in Afrikaans, Carlos, the eloquent storyteller, expressed high hopes: “One day, when I can read and write on my own, I will write down my stories.” His expectations have unfortunately not been fulfilled. After months of trying hard Carlos and four of his elderly fellow students have lost their stamina. They argue “how can I understand a computer if I never went to school and the computer talks in English only, which I do not understand”. However, the younger adult students, among them five women with various levels of formal education, are adamant to continue improving their Afrikaans and/or their English language skills. The young woman, who obtained her matric at the !Xunkhwesa Combined School in Platfontein, uses happily the interactive computer programme to enhance her English proficiency. Others, who attended primary school for a few years only or not at all, show timidly but proudly their writing of the alphabet and slowly read simple sentences in English.

Neither the youths nor the adults feel any sceptical sentiments that they share the same education programme. On the contrary, Riwen thinks that “it is good that my mom is also learning. She will help my grandmother, who can’t work with a pencil”. And Carlos emphasises “of course, I discuss with my children the lessons. I teach them stories and Rita helps me with the alphabet”.

From Tuesday to Thursday the youths enjoy practical training in the afternoons. The first few months sorting waste material, gardening and producing ostrich egg shell beads captivated their attention. Although André and Riwen, the most outspoken of the five young men “like to do traditional things”, the bead production never took priority and was eventually abandoned. Mary-Ann ascribes this development to the fact that jewellery production is predominantly the domain of the San women and men carve only the wooden pieces, which sometimes decorate ostrich eggshell necklaces and bracelets. However, the training in both gardening and compost-making out of organic waste material continued. After months of practice the youths are skilled in preparing soil, sowing seed, transplanting seedlings and planting trees. At the end of the semester their trainer is full of admiration for them when emphasising,”they have been working hard in the garden and I am very proud of them”.

Baba Festus believes that the majority of indigenous representatives would agree with her that the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (PF) is a significant platform to voice one’s views. The importance of the PF relates to the fact that representatives of indigenous peoples organisations meet at the same level with government-nominated experts to speak for their communities. The inaugural session of the PF took place at the UN headquarters in New York in May 2002. Since then a number of San from Botswana, Namibia and South Africa have attended the annual event.

This year Baba took for the second time the initiative and applied to the UN Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Populations to participate in the deliberations of the 6th PF. When Baba’s application was turned down she approached IWGIA, which supported her attendance as representative of a regional project, namely !Khwa ttu.

The two-week long forum offers an overwhelming number of “special events and other parallel events” from which Baba chose the most appealing ones for her and for Andries Steenkamp, the chairperson of the South African San Council. She also translated for Andries from English into Afrikaans at a number of meetings such as the workshop on ‘Indigenous Peoples’ Rights, Genetic resources and Indigenous Knowledge in the Convention on Biological Diversity and World Intellectual Property Organization’. At this workshop both Andries and Baba presented a short paper on the San’s view on “Intellectual Property Rights and Traditional Knowledge” and “Land and Natural Resources” respectively. Baba recalls that “the people were really amazed about what we achieved in the Hoodia case. Some people only knew that a pharmaceutical company wanted to rip something off the San people but they were not aware of what we achieved through negotiations. There was big applause when they heard about this”.

Baba regarded the panel discussion on Violence Against Women and the African caucuses organised by IPACC as the most stimulating sessions for her personally. “IPACC was really lobbying for the adoption of the declaration [on Indigenous Peoples Rights] as many African states have made changes [to it]. It is all about ‘self-determination’. I think they have a problem with this and some want to scratch it completely from the declaration”. About the presentations on Violence Against Women she recalls how shocked she was when she learned that abuse against indigenous women is considerably higher than against non-indigenous women in various parts of the world. Baba explains “indigenous women are very vulnerable because they are often dependent on others, who are more powerful”.

The most cheerful experience at the 6th PF was the reunion with one of her fellow trainees of the Indigenous Fellowship Programme. Both Carmen and Baba held discussions with this year’s Fellowship trainees and informed them in detail of “what we have implemented of the things we learned last year”.

As always at any international and regional gathering, Baba networked enthusiastically and spread information about !Khwa ttu among as many PF delegates as possible. She concludes: “People were interested in learning how a project [!Khwa ttu] can grow. I told them that training is empowering people and that we provide training”. She also touched the issue that “we, the San, used to see tourism as our enemy, but we have realised it does not need to be our enemy, it can actually be our friend and we have reached the point where we benefit from each other and we can turn it around to our advantage. She reports that participants “were very fascinated” by her examples of !Khwa ttu activities.

Baba is glad that she took the initiative, which made it possible for her to gain thoroughly enjoyable experiences at the PF. On the one hand she learned a lot, particularly about biodiversity and indigenous people, on the other hand she provided first-hand information about !Khwa ttu, the regional San Culture and Education Centre for which she is working since 5 years.

At the invitation of the Angolan UN office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Baba Festus had the privilege to participate in the First Angolan San Conference, which was held in Lubango on 26 April 2007. Baba, !Khwa ttu’s public relations officer and former trainee of the UN Indigenous Fellowship Programme, represented the South African San at this historic gathering. She thought that OCADEC, WIMSA and SNV’s comprehensive preparatory efforts had paid of as “the conference went extremely well’.

Whenever Baba reported on the conference she referred in the first place to the two-day pre-conference since that “was for the Angolan San” in contrast to the main conference, which “the government people and others dominated”. Indeed, the pre-conference was the forum where the 38 San from southern Angola had the opportunity to extensively discuss the problems their communities are currently facing. “One thing that really struck me was the fact that the Angolan San do not only acknowledge their problems but want to be part of the solution”, Baba announces with vigour. “For example they need schools and they believe if they get the material and tools, some of them are equipped enough to erect the building and other things. With that attitude they will go far”. Her eyes as she speaks light up with deeply felt admiration for the commitment of her Angolan colleagues. She hastily adds “our Angolan sisters and brothers were very eager to know more about the other San organisations’ achievements. I believe they want to follow in our footsteps, we [San delegates from Namibia and Botswana] were certainly able to give guidance to them”. Baba is convinced that the reports by the San on the establishment of their own organisations and councils, their ongoing struggles of getting their rights recognised and on their efforts to revitalise their culture among the young generation has inspired their Angolan colleagues. She believes “they feel that we are their strength; therefore our assistance must continue”.

The one-day conference was hosted by the Huíla provincial government and thus a high number of party and government officials attended the gathering. The event had also captured the attention of numerous representatives of local and international civil society, of linguists and anthropologists, and of delegates from various UN agencies. Among the scores of speeches and talks Baba gave a paper titled ‘The San’s ongoing struggle for justice, dignity and control of our own destiny’. With pride in her voice she recalls attendees’ encouraging comments on her presentation, particularly that of an UN participant, who had singled out her paper “because I did not only report on positive achievements but also talked about the problems that San have with regard to land”.

One of the highlights of the conference was the presentation of the San’s recommendations developed during the pre-conference. A small group of !Kung San familiarised the audience with their recommendations through singing and dancing and alternately reading them in Portuguese. The lyrics declared:

     All of us are Angolans. We want to have the same rights as all other Angolans.
     We have the will to work.
     We have the strength to cultivate fields.
     We have the dream of a life without abuses.
     We want training of our leaders.
     We want respect for our communities and our leaders.
     We want to be part of the new future of Angola.
     We want schools, health posts and proper land rights.
     We want a just price for our work.
     We want good relations with our Bantu neighbours.
     We want the same help that others receive.”

Baba feels “the way the San presented their resolutions was really great. That was strong and they certainly made a point.” In her view “the most important outcome of the main conference was the fact that the Angolan government acknowledged that the San are not always treated well but that they are part of the Angolan society and that they will try to assist the San with being treated like all the other Angolan citizens”. Her impression was echoed by the Administrator of Lubango who told the Angolan San “Your sons are also our sons and it is not possible for our sons to be slaves”. The conference ended with the first official handing over of a land title deed to a San leader of the Hombo community, in southern Angola. The information about the pioneering drive of the conference, the inspiring sharing of concepts among the San from the various countries and the commitment of all participants has even encouraged those who were unable to take part in this exceptional event.