Misery engulfs San children
The challenges faced by San children in Namibia are multi-dimensional and greatly limits their possibility for a successful and integrated adult life.
As Namibia marked the Day of the Namibian Child on Friday, the majority of San children face pervasive hunger, bullying, abuse, exploitation, extreme poverty and countless education barriers, compounded by harmful cultural practices.
Overall, San communities in Namibia remain starkly side-lined and as a result, battle extreme poverty, joblessness, social exclusion and isolation, in addition to deeply entrenched prejudice and intolerance from a majority of Namibians, and advocates say San children pay the price, entrenching them in an unending cycle of marginalisation and lack of development. Liz Frank of the Women's Leadership Centre (WLC) who has worked extensively with San communities ways “there are far more shebeens than food outlets in the villages” in most San communities. And while a majority of San depend on government grants and food aid, it is “mostly irregular, inadequate, and often delivered with an attitude of contempt for the people it is meant to serve. Local shops do not stock nutritious food items”.
Kileni Fernando, a San youth advocate and member of the San council says hungry San children often depend on non-governmental organisations for food, as well as scouring the veld. “Most of the people where I live are unemployed. So they are hungry almost every day. That's just how it is.”
Excluded
Another problem is that widespread alcohol addiction and despair leads to caregivers neglecting their children, resulting in irregular school attendance and high drop-out rates, as well as girls entering relationships with older men, often authority figures including teachers and police.
In turn, teenage pregnancies are high in the community, Fernando added. Moreover, lack of information coupled with discrimination, makes it difficult to access grants, Maria Garises, an outspoken San advocate told Namibian Sun.
She adds that chronic hunger impacts the focus children can apply to school work, lowering their chances of accessing secondary school.
“Our children drop out of school very early, for a number of reasons, including lack of attention and discrimination by teachers. The children don't feel welcome there,” Josephine Stuurman, a San advocate, stressed. Insults range from being told “you are weak, and they are told they are stupid like their parents. Language is also an issue, they are not taught in their mother tongue.”
Frank says parents are moreover often “humiliated and denigrated by the school principals and teachers in many schools, instead of being welcomed as equal partners in the education of their children.”
Lack of money further impacts the ability to transport children, buy stationery and uniforms, toiletries and other basics.
Barriers
Dr Philippe Talavera, director of the Ombetja Yehinga Organisation (OYO) trust, underlined that while there have been improvements, including the education ministry's increased responsiveness and awareness of the challenges faced by San children, as well as well-intentioned government policies, implementation and skewed priorities remain problematic.
“For instance San children may live far away from schools. Community hostels are created. But those hostels are not safe spaces for the children and they don't meet basic standard one would expect from such a structure.”
Moreover, language barriers are deeply problematic.
“In the Ohangwena Region for instance San children will speak Khoe at home but will be taught in Oshiwambo from grade 1 to 3 and then in English. It is incredibly hard for children to thrive under such conditions,” he explained.
San teachers would be key, though few are available now, to ensure children are taught in a language they understand, but “also because they could become role models to those children”.
An education ministry policy launched recently, the Safe School, is addressing bullying and could help ensure schools are safe spaces to all children, including San children, “if properly implemented,” Talavera said. Another issue which Talavera is particularly concerned about originates from cultural practices within the San communities.
“Traditionally girls are expected to marry soon after they start menstruating. It is therefore quite common to have San girls attending school from grade 1 to grade 7 for instance but then dropping out of school to get married and have children.”
Moreover, Frank says there is ample evidence that many hostels are unsafe, with rape and other forms of violence widespread.
Girls have reported rape in their communities by police officers, shopkeepers, staff of anti-poaching units, truck drivers and others, she said.
“We have heard of cases where the police refused to open cases in such instances.”
For those who do make it through primary and secondary school, accessing tertiary education is “enormously challenging”, Frank added.
Hope
Nevertheless, efforts to uplift and secure a better future for the San are underway, through several projects launched by non-governmental organisations such as the WLC and OYO Trust, with the support of international donors such as the Finnish embassy.
Moreover, San advocates who have long worked within their communities, say women are key to resolving many of the issues, and government should increase their focus on projects aimed specifically at them.
“If you empower the woman, you empower the family. Whenever you help a woman she will always think of her child – she will be there for her child. When women are independent then they are at least financially stable and if she is morally stable then the child will be protected and have a better life,” Fernando said.
She adds that it is time for communities to rise up and stand together against persons of authority who abuse their positions of power over of young San children and youth.
Talavera says role models are key.
“San children from deep rural areas need to be exposed to positive role models – people they can relate to and want to follow. It is also my hope that, in the future, Namibia will become less tribal. We should accept that we are all equal.”
JANA-MARI SMITH
Overall, San communities in Namibia remain starkly side-lined and as a result, battle extreme poverty, joblessness, social exclusion and isolation, in addition to deeply entrenched prejudice and intolerance from a majority of Namibians, and advocates say San children pay the price, entrenching them in an unending cycle of marginalisation and lack of development. Liz Frank of the Women's Leadership Centre (WLC) who has worked extensively with San communities ways “there are far more shebeens than food outlets in the villages” in most San communities. And while a majority of San depend on government grants and food aid, it is “mostly irregular, inadequate, and often delivered with an attitude of contempt for the people it is meant to serve. Local shops do not stock nutritious food items”.
Kileni Fernando, a San youth advocate and member of the San council says hungry San children often depend on non-governmental organisations for food, as well as scouring the veld. “Most of the people where I live are unemployed. So they are hungry almost every day. That's just how it is.”
Excluded
Another problem is that widespread alcohol addiction and despair leads to caregivers neglecting their children, resulting in irregular school attendance and high drop-out rates, as well as girls entering relationships with older men, often authority figures including teachers and police.
In turn, teenage pregnancies are high in the community, Fernando added. Moreover, lack of information coupled with discrimination, makes it difficult to access grants, Maria Garises, an outspoken San advocate told Namibian Sun.
She adds that chronic hunger impacts the focus children can apply to school work, lowering their chances of accessing secondary school.
“Our children drop out of school very early, for a number of reasons, including lack of attention and discrimination by teachers. The children don't feel welcome there,” Josephine Stuurman, a San advocate, stressed. Insults range from being told “you are weak, and they are told they are stupid like their parents. Language is also an issue, they are not taught in their mother tongue.”
Frank says parents are moreover often “humiliated and denigrated by the school principals and teachers in many schools, instead of being welcomed as equal partners in the education of their children.”
Lack of money further impacts the ability to transport children, buy stationery and uniforms, toiletries and other basics.
Barriers
Dr Philippe Talavera, director of the Ombetja Yehinga Organisation (OYO) trust, underlined that while there have been improvements, including the education ministry's increased responsiveness and awareness of the challenges faced by San children, as well as well-intentioned government policies, implementation and skewed priorities remain problematic.
“For instance San children may live far away from schools. Community hostels are created. But those hostels are not safe spaces for the children and they don't meet basic standard one would expect from such a structure.”
Moreover, language barriers are deeply problematic.
“In the Ohangwena Region for instance San children will speak Khoe at home but will be taught in Oshiwambo from grade 1 to 3 and then in English. It is incredibly hard for children to thrive under such conditions,” he explained.
San teachers would be key, though few are available now, to ensure children are taught in a language they understand, but “also because they could become role models to those children”.
An education ministry policy launched recently, the Safe School, is addressing bullying and could help ensure schools are safe spaces to all children, including San children, “if properly implemented,” Talavera said. Another issue which Talavera is particularly concerned about originates from cultural practices within the San communities.
“Traditionally girls are expected to marry soon after they start menstruating. It is therefore quite common to have San girls attending school from grade 1 to grade 7 for instance but then dropping out of school to get married and have children.”
Moreover, Frank says there is ample evidence that many hostels are unsafe, with rape and other forms of violence widespread.
Girls have reported rape in their communities by police officers, shopkeepers, staff of anti-poaching units, truck drivers and others, she said.
“We have heard of cases where the police refused to open cases in such instances.”
For those who do make it through primary and secondary school, accessing tertiary education is “enormously challenging”, Frank added.
Hope
Nevertheless, efforts to uplift and secure a better future for the San are underway, through several projects launched by non-governmental organisations such as the WLC and OYO Trust, with the support of international donors such as the Finnish embassy.
Moreover, San advocates who have long worked within their communities, say women are key to resolving many of the issues, and government should increase their focus on projects aimed specifically at them.
“If you empower the woman, you empower the family. Whenever you help a woman she will always think of her child – she will be there for her child. When women are independent then they are at least financially stable and if she is morally stable then the child will be protected and have a better life,” Fernando said.
She adds that it is time for communities to rise up and stand together against persons of authority who abuse their positions of power over of young San children and youth.
Talavera says role models are key.
“San children from deep rural areas need to be exposed to positive role models – people they can relate to and want to follow. It is also my hope that, in the future, Namibia will become less tribal. We should accept that we are all equal.”
JANA-MARI SMITH
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