The ministry of education has completed a second book in the Khwedam language for San people to support the adult literacy programme among the 4,000 strong Khwe tribe in northeastern Namibia. The second reading primer was presented at Chetto village in the Caprivi Region at the end of last week. About 120 adults of the Khwe in several villages who learn to read and write in their own language. The first book was published 2005, 15 years after independence, with the help of the Working Group of Indigenous Minorities in Southern Africa (WIMSA), a regional organisation for San (Bushman) people. About 8 language instructors of the Khwe run the classes and receive some payment from the ministry of education.

"We printed 650 copies of this book and 800 of the first primer", says Maria Namupala, project coordinator for Khwedam in the education ministry, "we do not have enough funds to print more", she added.

David Naudé of Khwe origin, who is the SADC regional expert for Khwedam copies distributed among the Khwe in Botswana, South Africa and to the few living in southern Angola. "We hope to interest donors to print more books", he said at the book launch.

The history of the Khwe is linked to the large Mbukushu tribe, living in Angola, Namibia, and Botswana, with whom they live in dependency since hundreds of years.

Last week they chose a new traditional Khwe leader; Ben Ngobara was elected last week after a gap of 5 years since the death of Kippi George.

The Namibian government has put in place a socio-economic project recently after the new deputy Prime Minister Libertine Amathila who holds this post since March 2005, visited all San communities in the country, tasked by President Hifikepunye Pohamba to compile a report on how to uplift the marginalized people.

WIMSA started to build the first ever pre-primary school for Khwe children in Namibia at Chetto. It will be operational in 3 months. The aim is to have such schools in all 10 Khwe settlements, says Michael Stark of WIMSA. "Eight young adults from there receive training as pre-school teachers". Once the pre-primary schools operate, the next step is to add classrooms for primary education by 2007/08 to introduce Khwedam as instruction medium there and existing schools in the area.

Photo: A young man of the Khwe San ethnic group reads from the new book. Photo: Brigitte Weidlich