San girls rise up

A two-and-a-half-year programme, designed by the Women's Leadership Centre (WLC), has empowered San girls through teaching them their rights and gearing them up for a successful future, despite a myriad of barriers.

The just-concluded programme titled 'San girls prevent child marriage and early pregnancy/motherhood', was funded by the Finnish embassy in Namibia and saw young girls aged eight to 14 from several communities participated.

The initiative aimed to restore their dignity and confidence, while teaching them about their rights as human beings and as San.

“I know you are the girls who will show all of us that we, San people, we the girls, we will finish our schooling and we will show Namibia and the world that have done this for ourselves,” Elizabeth /Khaxas of the WLC said during a certificate handover ceremony last week.

Programme coordinator, Suvi Valkonen, from the Finnish embassy, said it could change the way other similar initiatives are run.

The focus on ensuring the girls are empowered by taking ownership of the project, as well as the focus on instilling not only pride in cultural heritage but empowerment through knowledge on human rights, could have a ripple impact on the community as a whole, and were unique. “I believe that through the WLC programme the girls are really finding their voice and finding a new way of supporting themselves and taking a stand in their own lives,” Valkonen said.

She added that through the launch of a booklet titled 'San girls! First girls!', compiled by the WLC and based on the experiences and lessons learnt through the programme, the objectives of the project could continue to be taught to many other San girls and the community going forward.



We go on

Although official funding has ended, community leaders who led the girls through the programme, announced last Thursday they would carry on, for the sake of the young women and the community as a whole.

“We are happy to continue with this project, even without money coming in. We are doing it for our community. We want change in our community,” one of the facilitators said. Another facilitator said the programme has had a visible impact on the San community.

“I was able to see and experience the plight of the San children at school. I could see the discrimination; I could see the feelings of worthlessness they are experiencing. But through the programme I could see that many of the San girls were able to be proud to be called San. I could see the changes in their schoolwork. I could see they are no longer feeling left out; they felt included. I could observe the pride that was restored.”

/Khaxas said the generous funding from the Finnish government allowed the programme to continue for more than two years, which enabled them to “go deep and prepare them for adult challenges awaiting them in the future and already now”.

The programme was designed to ensure the girls take responsibility for themselves and each other, by allowing them to create the rules governing their work through the programme.

“The main goal was to build their resilience, the ability to face difficulties and overcome challenges,” she explained.



Emotional intelligence

/Khaxas said at the start, many of the young girls were shy and there was fighting in addition to anger and lack of focus among many.

“But within six months' time we could see the difference. The concentration was there. And teachers were telling us that their students were changing. They were concentrating more and listening better.”

She said a lot of the work was built around traditional plays, dance, singing and strengthening communication.

She said the changes observed by teachers and others were the result of close interaction with the girls.

“We told them that when children are playing, when they are learning and when they are loved and valued, when they are surrounded by people who they see love them and trust and respect them, the children's behaviour changes.”

Moreover, a key goal was to address deep-seated anger, insecurity and other emotional challenges –largely the result of the overall challenges and marginalisation San communities in Namibia face.

“The girls learnt about how to control their emotions more. At the beginning, there was a lot of anger. An anger that is really justified for being excluded in Namibia or being bullied at schools. Many times when children are not given the opportunities they need, they withdraw emotionally. Anger is an expression of the injustices of life. You are angry because you go to school on an empty stomach,” /Khaxas said.

Through interacting with the girls, the programme facilitators taught them to “speak their mind and to express feelings of oppression”, while also expressing the “feeling that something is not right in life”.

“So we did a lot of drawing, singing, dancing, especially traditional songs and dances, to help instil pride in their heritage.”

/Khaxas said the programme included classes about the body, about reproduction and about human rights and how to claim them.

Education permanent secretary Sanet Steenkamp underlined in a contribution made on her behalf that “in order to have access to our rights, we have to know what they are so that we can fight for them when someone is denying us our rights and preventing us from accessing them”.

She said San children face a host of challenges, including poverty, hunger, expenses and more, in addition to cultural challenges such as early marriages, which increase their chances of dropping out of school.

“Knowledge is power and this programme has given you the power to stand up for yourself, knowing your rights and claiming them. You are the agents of change in your lives, and it is our greatest hope that you will take what you have learned here and you will use it to make sure you complete your education.”

JANA-MARI SMITH