Projects
KPF accepts proposals for community initiated, community driven projects that help secure and support the San peoples rights to health, education, land, language, and livelihood. Each year new projects are proposed and funded. Please read about the current initiatives of the San people.
Village Schools Project
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.
Nyae Nyae Plant Book
Although Indigenous Peoples comprise only 5% of the world’s population, they safeguard 80% of the planet’s biodiversity. 80%! A group of artists in the Nyae Nyae of Namibia are creating an illustrated book of indigenous plants. Hand drawn and researched. The authors have been collaborating and not cataloguing the utility and attributes of each plant. It is wildly beautiful and wildly important. The book should be available for purchase in 2024.
Pictured is the Mangetti Tree.
Hai//om Cultural Heritage
KPF respects and honors Indigenous Peoples' inherent rights and dynamic cultures, deeply and richly interwoven in lands, languages, spiritual traditions, and artistic expression. The Oshivelo Hai//om cultural heritage group were awarded the honor of Best Cultural Group in the Region for 2022. They perform in the region, continuing a long tradition of dance, song, and healing. KPF supported a small grant for new materials, instruments, and technology.
=Khomani Community Projects
Many indigenous communities walk a tightrope of economic security. The =Khomani San community in SA have organized several projects:
The community is building small tourist houses to support a community based tourism project that generates money and preserves tradition.
A youth soccer league was formed as a way to help them connect with other Kalahari communities, increase the youth/elder collaboration on the Khomani farms, and give young people a positive activity. Equipment, clothing, and travel costs for the current season was supported through KPF and a highlight was the Easter Soccer Tournament.
Ju/'hoan Transcription and Translation Project
Tju|ho - thoughtful ways of making and walking.
Tju|ho is a publication on thoughtful design,
exploring how place and community shape
regenerative ways of making and walking. It
centres on the re-creation of the traditional San
hunting sandal N!ang N|osi in Nhoma, Namibia,
and its true owner, the Eland.
A project in the making since 2021, shaped through deep
collaboration with the Ju|’hoansi communities of Nhoma and Tsumkwe. Tju|ho exemplifies a multi-method approach to
knowledge integrating biomechanical quantitative data with
qualitative, experiential, and embodied knowledge. This approach recognizes that knowledge is not only acquired through
verbal transmission but also through movement, practice, and sensory engagement—with our ears, but also with our hands and feet. Tju|ho envisions a living network— one that connects expertise, and strengthens craft traditions worldwide. After all, Tju|ho means
village.
The publication was pre-launched at !Khwa ttu –
San Heritage Centre in May 2025, and will be
officially launched in collaboration with the
Global Footwear Future Coalition (GFFC) in
London, on 9 October 2025.
