Our Culture-Our Heritage-Our Pride

Greetings

This is addressed to any one who cares to listens:

We are the indigenous San people of Zimbabwe currently living in the Western part of Zimbabwe next to the Hwange National Park. For thousands of years we have lived and supported ourselves and our families from generations to generations through the bush. Rain has always provided us with clean and safe drinking water. All out lives, we have relied on surface water. Back then, we used to enjoy our lives and this is slowly coming to pass. For water we now have to rely on ground water which is very expensive to extract from the ground. We are a faceless and voiceless people. We have never owned anything, material possession is not known amongst our people. We have lived in groups, sharing all we had, conflict has always been avoided. Today, we are being told that we have to adapt. Nations of this world tend to forget one thing; That we do not own cattle, ploughs, equipment, tools, bank accounts etc. The only life we have known is the bush life.

We are told that the environment has changed and is still changing and you developed nations know what is causing this. We are also aware that nations of this world will be meeting to discuss issues pertaining to these challenges. We are also aware that, as you meet, you have to come up with solutions to the effects of the climate change challenges.

We are therefore calling upon the leaders of the nations, the civic organizations, NGOs any other interested parties that before you make any commitments, please think about of us, our children, our elderly and our future. You have the power to correct the past mistakes. We are calling for agreements that will safe guard the environment. We are desperately in need of reliable safe drinking water. From 1953, we have been trying to adapt and live as subsistence farmers like our neighbors, but it is very challenging for us.

Among us, we do not have lawyers, advocates, teachers who might be able to represent us. The other thing is that as long as the cultural expressions and cultural components are not included in development strategies, we are going to remain the faceless people on this planet. Our Culture-Our Heritage-Our pride. Thank you all for listening.

   “Indigenous Peoples have the right to maintain, control, protect and develop their heritage, traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions, as well as the manifestation of their sciences, technologies and cultures, including human and genetic resources, seeds, medicines, knowledge of the properties of fauna and flora, oral traditions, literatures, designs, sports and traditional games and visual and performing arts. They also have the rights to maintain, control, protect and develop their intellectual property over such cultural heritage, traditional knowledge, and traditional cultural expressions.”
(The United Nations Declarations on the rights of Indigenous Peoples – article 31) by Marcos Terena