Boxing brothers help educate San children

THE plight of the marginalised San people in Namibia and efforts to enable them to receive an education are set to receive international attention.

A five-day visit by world-famous boxing brothers, Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko, who are Unesco Goodwill Ambassadors for Education for Children in Need, coincides with UN Indigenous Peoples’ Day, which is marked today. The Klitschkos visited San communities at Chetto and Omega 1 in the Caprivi Region and also Ondangwa and Eenhana with a Unesco representative and accompanied by a foreign television crew.No Namibian media were invited along.”The participation of the two celebrities, the Klitschko brothers, will ensure greater visibility of the San education project and attract further resources to Unesco-funded initiatives in Namibia,” Dr Claudia Harvey, Unesco Director in Windhoek, told a press conference yesterday.Studies commissioned by Unesco identified the San as the most disadvantaged and isolated community in the Ohangwena Region, with very limited access to services and development opportunities.In 2002, Unesco and the US agency USAID developed programmes to let San children participate in early-childhood development at Ekoka, Endobe and Onamatadiva villages in the Ohangwena Region together with the local organisation Acacia Grassroots Development Network.”It is our first visit to Namibia and we are very impressed by the friendly welcome by the San communities, although they are the poorest.We care for their future and we want to give time and energy for their education,” said Vitali Klitschko.”I will be the best ambassador for Namibia,” he promised.His brother Wladimir said the San also needed medical care.”This time we assessed what is needed on the education sector.We will hopefully be back in a year’s time to see the progress made on projects designed resulting from our trip,” Wladimir Klitschko emphasised.The two famous brothers, who are also Unesco Champions for Sport, have been engaged in social activities for the past 10 years.Now they have teamed up with one of the largest manufacturing companies in Germany, the Henkel Group, for Namibia’s San children.Henkel will start a fundraising campaign in Germany with the Klitschko brothers to assist Unesco with early-childhood centres (ECDs) for the San in Ohangwena and Caprivi.”As soon as we are back in Germany we will make the campaign public together with Wladimir and Vitali,” said Katharina Wolf, a manager with the Henkel Group.She declined to give details but hinted that a percentage of the profits on sales of a specific hair-care project sold until December this year would go to Unesco in Namibia.The Henkel Group manufactures products for home care, personal care, and adhesives and sealants.Henkel is based in Duesseldorf with several branches in other countries and has 51 000 employees worldwide.The Eenhana Ouholamo Early Childhood Development (ECD) was built with the involvement of the community and financial contributions from Unesco to promote early-childhood development amongst San communities in the Ohangwena Region.It was inaugurated by Deputy Prime Minister Libertina Amathila, the patron of the project, in April.Last year, President Hifikepunye Pohamba asked Amathila to visit all San communities in the country and to compile a report for Cabinet on her findings and proposals for improvements, which was completed recently.Last year already, 138 San children were registered in the three Early Childhood Development centres in Ohangwena with a regular attendance of 40 children per centre.Now 87 San children attend primary school with 38 housed at the two existing community hostels.This has reduced absenteeism considerably, as the children do not have to walk the long distance between their villages and the schools.Twelve 12 ECD caregivers were also trained.The project will soon expand to Tsumkwe and to the villages of Chetto and Omega in the Caprivi Region.The Working Group of Indigenous Minorities in Southern Africa (WIMSA) is also involved in the ECD project.WIMSA, which has its head office in Windhoek, was established in 1996 by the San people in South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.The Klitschkos visited San communities at Chetto and Omega 1 in the Caprivi Region and also Ondangwa and Eenhana with a Unesco representative and accompanied by a foreign television crew.No Namibian media were invited along.”The participation of the two celebrities, the Klitschko brothers, will ensure greater visibility of the San education project and attract further resources to Unesco-funded initiatives in Namibia,” Dr Claudia Harvey, Unesco Director in Windhoek, told a press conference yesterday. Studies commissioned by Unesco identified the San as the most disadvantaged and isolated community in the Ohangwena Region, with very limited access to services and development opportunities.In 2002, Unesco and the US agency USAID developed programmes to let San children participate in early-childhood development at Ekoka, Endobe and Onamatadiva villages in the Ohangwena Region together with the local organisation Acacia Grassroots Development Network.”It is our first visit to Namibia and we are very impressed by the friendly welcome by the San communities, although they are the poorest.We care for their future and we want to give time and energy for their education,” said Vitali Klitschko.”I will be the best ambassador for Namibia,” he promised.His brother Wladimir said the San also needed medical care.”This time we assessed what is needed on the education sector.We will hopefully be back in a year’s time to see the progress made on projects designed resulting from our trip,” Wladimir Klitschko emphasised. The two famous brothers, who are also Unesco Champions for Sport, have been engaged in social activities for the past 10 years.Now they have teamed up with one of the largest manufacturing companies in Germany, the Henkel Group, for Namibia’s San children.Henkel will start a fundraising campaign in Germany with the Klitschko brothers to assist Unesco with early-childhood centres (ECDs) for the San in Ohangwena and Caprivi. “As soon as we are back in Germany we will make the campaign public together with Wladimir and Vitali,” said Katharina Wolf, a manager with the Henkel Group.She declined to give details but hinted that a percentage of the profits on sales of a specific hair-care project sold until December this year would go to Unesco in Namibia. The Henkel Group manufactures products for home care, personal care, and adhesives and sealants.Henkel is based in Duesseldorf with several branches in other countries and has 51 000 employees worldwide.The Eenhana Ouholamo Early Childhood Development (ECD) was built with the involvement of the community and financial contributions from Unesco to promote early-childhood development amongst San communities in the Ohangwena Region.It was inaugurated by Deputy Prime Minister Libertina Amathila, the patron of the project, in April.Last year, President Hifikepunye Pohamba asked Amathila to visit all San communities in the country and to compile a report for Cabinet on her findings and proposals for improvements, which was completed recently. Last year already, 138 San children were registered in the three Early Childhood Development centres in Ohangwena with a regular attendance of 40 children per centre.Now 87 San children attend primary school with 38 housed at the two existing community hostels.This has reduced absenteeism considerably, as the children do not have to walk the long distance between their villages and the schools.Twelve 12 ECD caregivers were also trained.The project will soon expand to Tsumkwe and to the villages of Chetto and Omega in the Caprivi Region.The Working Group of Indigenous Minorities in Southern Africa (WIMSA) is also involved in the ECD project.WIMSA, which has its head office in Windhoek, was established in 1996 by the San people in South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.