Our living conditions deteriorate daily - San community
Members of the San community at Mupapama village in the Kavango East Region say they continue to live in squalor with no solution in sight.
Every day, they watch helplessly as they sink deeper into poverty, they said.
In 2019, during a Namibian Sun visit to establish the living conditions of the community, several families were found living in makeshift structures, sleeping on the ground, exposed to the elements and going days without a meal.
On a follow-up visit to the village situated about 60 kilometres east of Rundu last week, little has changed, with community members bemoaning that the situation is even worse now.
They currently survive on social grants collected by some of the elderly, which are often delayed for months, as well as hand-outs donated by Good Samaritans.
Potable water and electricity remain a distant dream.
Villagers told Namibian Sun that they have to travel several kilometres to collect water from the Kavango River or alternatively to beg for water from nearby homesteads.
Challenges piling up
Speaking on behalf of the community, 90-year-old Pinas Kambembe told Namibian Sun that they are faced with a number of difficulties, enmeshed with their poverty.
Having lived at Mupapama for the past 20 years after moving from Omega in the Mukwe constituency, he said their challenges have been piling up and they do not get the necessary support.
Kambembe - who was in 2019 able to walk up straight - is now unable to move around, saying poverty has played a role in the deterioration of his health.
“I remember you were here some years ago but look at me now, things have gone from bad to worse. We have been neglected by our government,” he said, with fellow community members murmuring their agreement in the background.
He added that the grants and hand-outs they get from government do not constitute support as their lives have not changed for the better.
“Our grants and the food they give us don’t last us a month. Are you telling me that we are only meant to eat and not live comfortably? We also want decent shelter like other San communities,” he said.
“All I know is that we all serve a living God and those who are in charge of the resources of the country but decided to neglect us, we will all meet before the Lord one day.”
No one cares about us
“If there is someone out there who is fighting for our plight, I am yet to be convinced that there is a leader - be it regionally and nationally - who cares about us,” the community elder lamented.
“They drive past our area with their cars, not knowing that some of us played a role in the liberation of this country.”
He called on government to take the plight of the San community seriously.
“We have been downgraded to people who should only survive on hand-outs, but that does not mean it’s all we want. We want our lives to be uplifted to that of other citizens.
“We know what is happening in the country. We are not hunters as people think. There is nothing to hunt in Mupapama,” Kambembe said.
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Every day, they watch helplessly as they sink deeper into poverty, they said.
In 2019, during a Namibian Sun visit to establish the living conditions of the community, several families were found living in makeshift structures, sleeping on the ground, exposed to the elements and going days without a meal.
On a follow-up visit to the village situated about 60 kilometres east of Rundu last week, little has changed, with community members bemoaning that the situation is even worse now.
They currently survive on social grants collected by some of the elderly, which are often delayed for months, as well as hand-outs donated by Good Samaritans.
Potable water and electricity remain a distant dream.
Villagers told Namibian Sun that they have to travel several kilometres to collect water from the Kavango River or alternatively to beg for water from nearby homesteads.
Challenges piling up
Speaking on behalf of the community, 90-year-old Pinas Kambembe told Namibian Sun that they are faced with a number of difficulties, enmeshed with their poverty.
Having lived at Mupapama for the past 20 years after moving from Omega in the Mukwe constituency, he said their challenges have been piling up and they do not get the necessary support.
Kambembe - who was in 2019 able to walk up straight - is now unable to move around, saying poverty has played a role in the deterioration of his health.
“I remember you were here some years ago but look at me now, things have gone from bad to worse. We have been neglected by our government,” he said, with fellow community members murmuring their agreement in the background.
He added that the grants and hand-outs they get from government do not constitute support as their lives have not changed for the better.
“Our grants and the food they give us don’t last us a month. Are you telling me that we are only meant to eat and not live comfortably? We also want decent shelter like other San communities,” he said.
“All I know is that we all serve a living God and those who are in charge of the resources of the country but decided to neglect us, we will all meet before the Lord one day.”
No one cares about us
“If there is someone out there who is fighting for our plight, I am yet to be convinced that there is a leader - be it regionally and nationally - who cares about us,” the community elder lamented.
“They drive past our area with their cars, not knowing that some of us played a role in the liberation of this country.”
He called on government to take the plight of the San community seriously.
“We have been downgraded to people who should only survive on hand-outs, but that does not mean it’s all we want. We want our lives to be uplifted to that of other citizens.
“We know what is happening in the country. We are not hunters as people think. There is nothing to hunt in Mupapama,” Kambembe said.
[email protected]
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