Bushmen Renaissance and Re-emergence

Dear Donors, 

There’s a miracle happening in the Kalahari, in part due to your help. Propelled by the vision Bushman healer Lys Kruiper has for her people and for humanity, the vision is powerful and simple… to empower the youth and to help them remember who they are to perpetuate their culture, which is currently under threat of extinction. 

The first part of this vision was to build a healing hut in her community, which could be used as a workshop space to teach the youth traditional medicine, including “smeer,” traditional Bushman massage, and herbal medicine. She and her husband are two remaining Elders who still remember the traditional ways. But they can only take the teachings so far. Which brings us to the second part of her vision, which is the focus of this report. Her desire was to bring a group of Bushmen youth to Namibia to meet with an intact Bushman community there. The Bushmen in Namibia have been less impacted by Western influence and as a result, the ancient knowledge also remains more intact than in the communities in the Kalahari. 

In October of 2018, with your support, we brought a group of seven youth and four Elders to Namibia. The trip was grueling—14 hours of driving on the first day, 12 the second day to bring us deep into the Bushveld. Invited to stay with a local tribe, initially the boys were reserved, unsure of how to ask questions that were burning on their hearts. Eventually, with the help of a translator and as the level of comfort rose, they were able to have meaningful conversations with the Elders from this tribe, exchanging knowledge of medicinal herbs, plants, and even participating in a trance dance. At the end of this trip, Lys commented, “I see the hope and excitement in the boys. It gives me hope that our culture will continue.” 

We have begun conversations with the Namibian Ju’/hoansi tribe about the possibility of a future exchange, bringing a group of Namibian youth and Elders to the Kalahari for a month. With your continued support, we are confident the first of these exchanges can take place sometime in June-August 2019. 

The Bushmen are under threat of extinction. Please continue to spread the word about this initiative so that we can support this exchange and support Lys in the vision for her people. This healing will ripple through time and space to heal all of humanity.