Current Projects
Nyae Nyae Village Schools Project: Alternative Mother-Tongue Education
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. Twenty years ago, KPF provided expertise in Ju/'hoansi, a click language of the Kalahari, and knowledge of the Ju/'hoan Bushmen (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 English while teaching and respecting traditional knowledge, and has been a pilot for other such projects in Africa.
Services
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Services
This is your Services section. This is a great place to give more information about the services you provide. You can write a general description of what your business offers then add more details below.This section can be adapted for your website.
You may choose to highlight other things like courses or programs, or to share special features about your business that you want to promote. Double click on the text box to edit the text and make it your own.
Nyae Nyae Playgroup Project
The Nyae Nyae Village Playgroup Project was implemented in 2016 to provide preschool Juǀ’hoan children background knowledge and experience in preparation for the transition to learning environments starkly different from a village learning environment. Through building self confidence in a child’s early years, we hope to lessen the culture shock Juǀ’hoan children and their parents experience when attending enclosed, highly structured, Western style classrooms. Each village receives as a gift a sturdy rubberized box filled with early learning materials and an initial three visits to demonstrate to families how to use the materials. Included in the bins are books with simple text and actual photographs from the project. Through this preparation in the preschool years, our hope is to reduce the high drop-out rate from the Village Schools and the Tsumkwe Public Schools. Parents and other village adults have responded enthusiastically to the Playgroup Project. In addition, the Traditional Authority of Nyae Nyae and the Nyae Nyae Conservation have approved this ongoing project and given an oral report each year. KPF receives a written report.
Photo Credit: Bruce Parcher
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Recent Initiatives
KPF 2022 Annual Project Report
N//oq'an!'ae Online, internet and language transcriptions
Contact: Megan Laws, Kerry Jones, Jennifer Hays
Location: Tsumkwe, Namibia
Status: Ongoing
This project involves a community internet infrastructure and voucher system with Fridrick /Kunta and Megan Biesele.
Cost: $6,121.35 (USD)
Village Cleanup
Contact: Leon Tsamkxao
Location: Tsumkwe, Namibia
Status: Successfully Completed
This project involved trash pickup of buildup caused
by withdrawal of government garbage services with volunteer work by village young
people and vehicle loans by NNDFN and local people's organization.
Cost: $1,123.00 (USD)
=Khomani San Water Needs Support
Contact: Fleming Puckett
Location: Upington, South Africa
Status: Ongoing
This project involves supplying village water provision with Luce Steenkamp.
Cost: $2,628.39 (USD)
Nyae Nyae Preschool Playgroup
Contact: Melissa Heckler, Alexandra Parrs
Location: Tsumkwe, Namibia
Status: Ongoing
This project involves community and parental cooperation in village playgroups for preschoolers with
Melissa Heckler and TUCSIN-Tsumkwe Education Projects.
Cost: $2,596.37 (USD)
Water Needs for Nyae Nyae Conservancy
Contact: Saskia den-Adel Sheehama;
Location: Nyae Nyae, Namibia;
Status: Successfully Completed
This project involved installing a solar pump for the Makuri village with NNDFN.
Cost: $3,291.20 (USD)
N//oq'an!'ae Online, internet and language transcriptions
Contact: Megan Laws, Kerry Jones, Jennifer Hays
Location: Tsumkwe, Namibia
Status: Ongoing
This project involves a community internet infrastructure and voucher system with Fridrick /Kunta and Megan Biesele.
Cost: $6,121.35 (USD)
Total KPF Expenses (2022): $15,760.31 (USD)
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). Funding has supported borehole drilling so that water and 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 the 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 over three decades of informed knowledge of the languages and traditions of these peoples. Computer literacy and training in digital recording technology began in 2001 and will continue for as long as there is a 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. To read more about folklore and oral history, please visit our Resources page.
Administrative Support
For almost 40 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!
Maun Wood-Sculpture Workshop with sculptors from New Xade and Kacgae Village in Botswana: Supported by KPF (June-July 2020)
Prior Updates:
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In Namibia, our COVID-19 illustrated posters in English and several Kalahari languages were officially adopted by Namibia's Ministry of Health and Social Services for use throughout the country.
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In South Africa, we began supporting the translation of COVID-19 materials into !Xun and Khwedam.
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To combat TB (which makes San even more susceptible to COVID-19), KPF is partnering with a group of British volunteers to fund ongoing TB treatment and research in the Nyae Nyae area of Namibia after government funding was withdrawn in March 2020.
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In Namibia, KPF began funding the translation and dissemination of Coronavirus materials for Ju|'hoansi, !Xun, and Himba communities in Tsumkwe, Tsumkwe West, Na Jaqna Conservancy, and Kaokoveld.
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In South Africa, we provided COVID-19 prevention & health information to the ǂKhomani San.
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In South Africa, KPF received a 10,000 ZAR pledge from the Council of the South African Archaeological Society to support our translation efforts and pamphlet printing.
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In Botswana, KPF provided help to unemployed San workers at Dqae Qare Game Farm, D'kar.
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Across Southern Africa, KPF worked with local contacts to gather information on COVID-19 infection rates in March and April 2020, as follows:
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Namibia - 16 infections, 10 recoveries
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Lesotho - No COVID-19 cases (see update here)
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Botswana - 21 active cases, 1 death, no recoveries
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Zimbabwe - 23 active cases, 3 deaths, 2 recoveries
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Mozambique - 33 active cases, no deaths, 8 recoveries
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Angola - 17 active cases, 2 deaths, 6 recoveries
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Zambia - 36 active cases, 3 deaths, more than 30 recoveries
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Malawi - 17 active cases, 3 deaths, 3 recoveries
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South Africa - 2,515 active cases, 65 deaths, and 1,055 recoveries
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