The !Khwa ttu experience is all about
the San; a culture that dates back more than 40,000 years. We, the
San (sometimes referred to as ‘Bushmen’) are the indigenous – or ‘first
people’ of Southern Africa. Our ancestors were the original
hunter-gatherers of Africa who encountered a paradox fate over time:
while thousands were persecuted, killed or incorporated into local
rural serfdom, some managed to survive in relative isolation and
cling to a semi-traditional life-style as recently as the 1960’s.
These scattered small communities became the most studied, researched
and filmed indigenous group throughout the world.
However, this romantic fascination
with our people all too often overlooks the real conditions that most
of the 100’000 San of Southern Africa live under today. During
the last 200 years, we have lost all ancestral lands and a good part
of our cultural identity that is attached to one’s own language
and traditional upbringing.
The reasons for this are as manifold as
the complex colonial history and African migration movements from
pre-colonial to present times. Consequently, today our people are
poverty-stricken, desperately marginalized and discriminated against.
However, during the last few decades we have formed our own San organizations and identified relevant programmes and projects. With the assistance of professionals we run education programmes, conduct advocacy work, fight for rights to land and intellectual property and manage projects such as the !Khwa ttu Culture and Education Centre.
Find out more about the San, through our partners’ websites:
!Khwa ttu is a non-profit educational
project in need of financial and other forms of support. We welcome ANY
offers of donations, most urgently those for school material, teacher’s
salaries and the children’s meals. Please contact the general manager
to discuss your ideas – no matter how creative they are!
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Meet the San 
