Clever Cubs - Sept 10

Our school children continue to develop and grow both in size and in their ability to play, communicate and learn. Our Clever Cubs teacher, Hilma, along with her assistants Tepletene and Anna are working hard to provide the children with a good start in life. 

In particular, Hilma is busy working with some of our older Clever Cubs to get them ready for grade 1 at the Windhoek Schools when they start next year. Hilma also helps the older children already at the mainstream schools with their homework and extra learning.

The children are very excited about the visit planned with staff from KMPG next month for the official handover of their new school minibus. KPMG Namibia have kicked off the sponsorship of this bus but we are still searching for two more sponsors to enable us to purchase the bus outright and save costly monthly payments and interest. 

We need your help to continue to run the school and cover all the costs and fees for sending the older children to the mainstream schools. Without your support of our education initiative, these children would be unlikely to receive any form of education. With your help we can give them access to a better, brighter future.

Join the ABC Club and fundraise to help our Clever Cubs keep learning; whether you get your local school involved, at work, with your friends and family you can have a great time whilst you make a difference in the lives of these children. Watch our ABC video to find out more and email donations@naankuse.com to get involved.

Lodge Chef Lientjie Wins Award!

The whole team at N/a’an ku sê Lodge & Wildlife Sanctuary was delighted when their talented Lodge chef Lientjie received an award for her delicious cooking at the Namibian Chef of the Year Awards this August.

Lientjie said, “I really enjoyed cooking in this year’s competition because we had to choose from a difficult list of ingredients to use in our three courses. Also, this year I knew exactly what was waiting for me, after competing last year.

After a year and a half in the N/a’an ku sê Lodge kitchen, I still love my job! I have learnt so much since last year and have developed a true love for making desserts and pastries.

There have been many highlights this past year in our lodge kitchen; we have had a number of weddings to cook for as well as a very successful Open Day with Radio Wave where we had to prepare deli-style food for 700 people! This really taught me to plan and prepare well in advance, and to stay calm and focused on the day.”

Rhona, N/a’an ku sê’s Lodge Manager said. “I am so proud of Lientjie! She has really grown since last year’s competition and entered the kitchen at this year’s cook-off with lots of confidence and enthusiasm. She had to cook a three-course meal for six people in two and a half hours, so a real challenge.

Lientjie’s participation and success in this competition highlights what N/a’an ku se Lodge and Wildlife Sanctuary believe in and stand for – to uplift the young San Generation and give them hope for their futures.”

Lientjie’s menu

Starter: Apple and Beetroot Soufflé with Apple-Vinaigrette and Toasted !Nara Seeds

Main Course: Slow Roasted Whole Beef Sirloin with an Ombogo-Pasta Timbale, Rooibos-Onions and Red Wine Reduction.

Dessert: a true masterpiece that included a Dark Chocolate Lava Cake with Pamplemousse Jelly and Pumpkin Custard.

San Bushman Update - June 2010

Clever Cubs School

All of our Clever Cubs have been developing really well since the last update. The children love coming to school and enjoy playing and taking part in a whole range of activities. Our nursery class is very busy, especially with the arrival of our youngest pupil, Dara, born in June! Our Dara was very excited at having a namesake!

The older children are working hard in their Windhoek schools. We are very proud of Sofia and Josephine who have both been chosen to be a monitors in their schools. We held classes at Clever Cubs for the first two weeks of the official school holidays to help the older children with their reading, writing and phonics. They enjoy school so much that they were even happy to come along in their holidays!

We waved farewell to San Bushman worker Gogga who has moved on from the farm along with his wife and children Willem and Christina. Josephine, their older adopted son Willem and baby Bossie have all remained on the farm and are all looked after by other families so that they can continue to attend school.

Another family has joined us together with four children; Christian, Saul, Betta & Petrus and we are very pleased to have secured places for the older three in the Windhoek schools.

You can help support our education initiative for the San Bushman Community as an individual, as part of your schools fundraising programme or through your company’s corporate social responsibility agenda.

Sponsorship of our school minibus: We are very grateful to KPMG for sponsoring a quarter of our new minibus. We are currently looking for other sponsors to enable us to buy the vehicle outright and save on our current expensive rental fees.

·         $10,000 (approx £880; €1,015) could cover the repayments for our school minibus for one month, including fuel and a driver.

·         N$240,000 (approx £21,160; €24,360) could allow us to buy the school minibus permanently, enabling us to provide reliable transport for the children throughout all of their school years.

Sponsor a child for just N$2,500 (approx £220, €255) a year and help us to continue to cover their school fees, provide them with uniforms, sports kits and educational equipment and to enable them to participate in school trips with their peers.

Email donationsnaankuse@iway.na if you would like to sponsor a child, help fund the minibus or make a donation of any kind.

Bushman Village

Our Bushman village has grown again in size with the addition of three new houses, each with two rooms for our largest Bushman families. Our biggest thanks go to Jan Verburg and Burgland Charitas in the Netherlands for their kind donation in sponsoring the buildings. We hope the houses and the new shower block and toilets will be finished by the end of this month.

A trip of a lifetime

Some of our San Bushman community had the most amazing experience at the beginning of the year when they took part in a photo shoot for renowned artist and filmmaker, Gregory Colbert. Willem and Josephine from N/a’an ku sê and Tjiko from the Epukiro community along N/a’an ku sê’s Director, Marlice van Vuuren spent four weeks experiencing the cold of Anartica. Willem, Josephine, Marlice and her son Zacheo then travelled to Mexico for two weeks. 

Marlice said, “It was wonderful to see these Bushman in such a different setting; experiencing weather, temperatures, cultures and sights that they would otherwise never see. The majority of Bushman live in extreme poverty in Namibia but we hope that the work of Gregory will help to highlight this sometimes forgotten ancient tribe and create awareness around the problems they experience.”

 Josephine has also featured in Gregory's previous work, Ashes and Snow http://www.ashesandsnow.org/ . We expect that pictures from this shoot will form a unique series and they also feature a stunning little Mongolian girl and an old Mongolian man.

March 2010

It’s been a great start to the year for children of the N/a’an ku se’s San community. In January, 10 of the children started in three mainstream schools in Windhoek and our first term started at Naankuse & Clabile's Clever Cubs School.
 

San children begin mainstream schools in Windhoek
Thanks to all of the generous sponsors who have supported us, 10 of our San Bushman children have finally been given the opportunity to attend mainstream schools.

Maria, Christina, Betty, Martha, Willem, Josephina, Sofia, Sofia, Willem & Joseph are all thoroughly enjoying learning with a group of children their own age. They have all settled into the routine remarkably, and since starting school their self confidence has improved tremendously. They love school so much, they don’t even seem to mind the 5am start!
On that first morning, the children were accompanied by their teacher and they were all very nervous! Thankfully the day ran perfectly, and all of the children thoroughly enjoyed their first day and even started to make some friends. It was a very proud moment to see them looking crisp and clean in their new uniforms and starting their new schools. They came back tired but very happy!

The two Willem’s, Josephine and Joseph originally all attended boarding schools over 300km away in Gobabis. Thanks to the sponsorship and funds donated towards our Bushman community we have been able to secure them places at the more expensive schools in Windhoek which has enabled them to come back and live with their families. Bettie and Mina, their mothers are thrilled to have them back living safely with them.

The school bell rings for the children every weekend day at 7:15am, after an early start to get ready and travel into Windhoek. They return to the farm at 3pm each day, and go straight to Clever Cubs for homework assistance with our new teacher, Hilma.

As well as all improving academically, we also have an aspiring athlete within the group. 15 year old Willem has excelled in long distance running since he started school; in fact he has come first in every single race he has run and has been asked to represent the school team! We could have a future Olympian on our hands, so watch this space....


Welcome to our new teacher, Hilma
Early January saw the N/a’an ku se team joined by Hilma, our new Namibian teacher. With our older children in schools in Windhoek, Hilma is here to focus on the pre-school education of the San children of N/a’an ku se. This is to ensure that we give them the best possible educational start in life ready for when they are old enough to join the mainstream schools.
Over 15 children currently attend Naankuse & Clabile's Clever Cubs with some especially young learners from under two years old! Hilma is joined by Theopoltine, Andy and Deshi’s mum, and Anna who look after the nursery class of tiny tots. Each day one or two volunteers from our wildlife volunteering programme also join Clever Cubs to help provide teaching.

Hilma says...
“I really love working with these children. They always manage to put a smile on my face. It amazes me how willing they are to learn. I love to hear them sing and to watch their beautiful dances. I have thoroughly enjoyed my first term here, and very much look forward to working with these children for the rest of the year.”

Clever Cubs opens its door at 9am every day in the week for the children. Their lessons include English, numeracy, environmental, arts and crafts, circle games and physical activities. They also enjoying dance and singing time, break where they love playing on their new playground, and then they tuck into lunch before heading back the Bushman village at midday. In the afternoon’s the older children from the Windhoek schools attend Clever Cubs to complete their homework.

We are extremely grateful to KPMG Namibia who have agreed to sponsor one third of the costs of buying a minibus to turn into the children’s permanent school bus. If you or your company would like to get involved in fundraising or sponsoring the rest of the bus please email Claire at clairenaankuse@iway.na