Kalahari Peoples Fund's Ongoing Projects

Central Kalahari Game Reserve Support KPF is one of a large group of nongovernmental and quasi-governmental organizations both in southern Africa and outside of it, that concern themselves with the troubled situation of the G/wi and G//ana Bushmen and other peoples of Botswana’s Central Kalahari Game Reserve. KPF’s role within this important grouping has been to provide factual information for legal actions taken on behalf of the peoples of the CKGR—before AND after the recent landmark success of their suit to be allowed to return to the reserve. Mother-Tongue Alternative Education Projects KPF was the principal founder of the well-known Nyae Nyae Village Schools Project in Namibia. This project provides for the Ju/’hoan San a genuinely alternative challenge to the authoritative national school system they had tried and refused. Fifteen years ago, KPF provided expertise in Ju/’hoansi, a click language of the Kalahari, and knowledge of Ju/’hoan Bushman (San) communities, to respond to these people’s request for a literate form of their language and appropriate schooling to go with it. At present, two subsequent classes of local teachers have been trained to teach the Ju/’hoan language to students in grades 1-4. This project provides a bridge to the English while teaching and respecting traditional knowledge, and has been a pilot for other such projects in Africa, notably some KPF is now associated with in Botswana and South Africa. Community Water and Resource Development KPF has provided major funding and consultation to a group of projects in Namibia and Botswana that fall under the heading of Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM is the international acronym). Funding has supported borehole drilling so that water rights, and thus land rights, could be established; genealogical work and land use mapping to support land claims; local community development liaison officers to consult for and monitor collective action projects; the provision of professional environmental information to support sustainable development; and the protection of community water supplies against elephant depradation. Kalahari Healing Narratives, Folklore, and Oral History KPF has been asked to provide training so that San and other peoples of the Kalahari can themselves produce texts and visual materials for their community schools and archives. To fulfill this request, KPF members who are professional linguists and anthropologists are calling on three decades of informed knowledge of the languages and traditions of these people. Computer literacy and training in digital recording technology began in 2001 and will continue for as long as there is community desire for this assistance. Construction has begun on a high-speed internet connection in Nyae Nyae, Namibia, to facilitate materials production, archiving, and access. Administrative Support For over 30 years, KPF's projects have been carried out with the volunteer labor of professional anthropologists, linguists, educators, and writers. Though our overhead costs are minimal, KPF relies on your donations for the administrative expenses necessary to support all of our projects. We appreciate your help!