Khomani San School

KHOMANI SAN SCHOOL

When the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park was created during the 1930s, the livelihoods and freedom of movement of some of South Africa’s last remaining first peoples, the Khomani San, were curtailed. The new park was fenced in and the inhabitants driven away from their ancestral land. Wildlife was better cared for than people.

Khomani San Bushmen School

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In 1999, the Khomani San community was given ownership of a number of farms outside the small settlement Andriesvale where most of them lived at the time. They also secured access and use rights to some areas inside what is now the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. Jamma works with this neglected community to run their own primary school preparing children for life in a diverse school environment while ensuring that traditional knowledge and skills are transferred to the younger generations, enabling the way of life for the Khomani San to continue to develop in today's demanding society.

The holistic Khomani San school programme aims to integrate an up to date curriculum with traditional knowledge to give these children the very best of both and provide them with the life skills and cultural dignity they have missed for so long. 

In an early intervention, Jamma assisted the Khomani San to stock up one of their farms, the 5,000-hectare Erin, with wildlife and turn it into a successful commercial game harvesting business. 

Uplifting communities and providing cultural dignity for future generations.

Gemsbok Kalahari Khomani San

The Khomani San are one of the last remaining groups of the indigenous San people of South Africa. During the creation of the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, much of their movement as hunter-gatherers on their traditional land was curtailed and many members of the community were dispersed. In 1995, the Khomani San lodged a claim for the restitution of their ancestral land, and in 1999, they were granted ownership over a number of farms nearby the settlement of Andriesvale and adjacent to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park.

Establishing a junior school where children can receive culturally sensitive good education will enable them to enter senior school equipped to succeed.

The provision of services to this remote area is slow and the community has been severely neglected, with limited access to education, health care, justice systems, and income generating opportunities. A lack of adequate infrastructure results in the physical and virtual isolation of this community. 

Through the Khomani San School project, Jamma is putting educational support in place for the benefit of the next generation.

The San developed a unique knowledge of nature, including the healing properties of plants. If this traditional knowledge is not nurtured, what is now left may be lost forever. 

“We aim to provide an accessible, culturally sensitive primary school education to the Khomani San children. By integrating an up to date curriculum with traditional knowledge, we help to uplift the community by empowering future generations.” - Claire Barry, Khomani San School Programme

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Interested in finding out more about our values, projects and processes?

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