the plight of the san
The San, despite their peaceful culture, face the complete eradication of their language, religion, hunting skill, and lifestyles. These changes are caused by the removal of the San from their homeland, the Kalahari Game Reserve, shown left. The San are suspected to have been removed for mining reasons, as a mine worth $4 billion was recently purchased in the reserve, as the government claims it removed them for conservation reasons. Most remain skeptical of this, as the reserve was created for the San to hunt in, and they have been hunting responsibly for thousands of years. How would a government do any better, especially as they introduce heavy machinery and industrial waste onto the reserve by opening a mine?
In 1997, 2002, and 2005, large groups of San were taken and trucked off to "resettlement camps." In order to ensure that the San would not cross back into the desert, the government closed off waterholes and enforced brutal border security. Many of the Kalahari's native inhabitant were beaten when they tried to escape their modern prison, for the resettlement camps were anything but welcoming to the San. Despite the camps promising to "modernize" the San by introducing paid wages and cattle farming, the reality of life for the San there is very different. Diseases such as AIDS and TB run rampant, alcohol abuse is everywhere, and the San struggle to survive solely on the meager income they receive from farming.
The San say that "everything is wrong here." They do not feel that modern life is much of an improvement. "I miss my home and the way we lived. Life was easy, there were lots of fruits, animals and there were no bars and no beer. Now we are lost" says one of the San. For this peaceful and creatively simple tribe, modern life is a prison, not a freedom.