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1. NO ONE LEFT OUT
3. NO ONE TELLS
YOU WHAT YOU
SHOULD THINK!
2. GOOD ATMOSPHERE
3. NO ONE (not even
the teacher) HAS ALL
THE ANSWERS!
STAYING FOCUSED
THINKING HARD
WORKING AS A TEAM
1. Looking at PERSPECTIVES: image, film,
cartoon, song, story
2. Drawing or writing your FIRST THOUGHTS
and sharing it
3. Making QUESTIONS in pairs
4. VOTING on a question
5. TALKING about it
6. SHARING what we have learned
The Bushmen of
central Kalahari
have been violently
evicted from their
lands in Botswana.
These evictions
started in 1997
following the
discovery of
diamonds on
Bushman land.
AFRICA
Botswana
Kalahari Desert
The President of Botswana said:
“How can we have a stone age
creature continue to exist in the
age of computers? If the
Bushmen want to survive, they
must change or otherwise, like
the Dodo, they will perish.”
The Bushmen say:
“This is our home, the home of our
ancestors, which we have inherited from our
forefathers. Our ancestors have not told us
to move on. This is our ancestral land. Now
we are not allowed to hunt and gather food,
which we do in order to live. They have
prevented us from doing this, therefore how
can we survive? This is our way. This is our
culture. We survive off this land that feeds
us. The government have stolen our goats
and banned our way of life. The government
lie, they do not tell the truth, we do not
choose to move, we choose to stay and live
on our land.”
Letter from the residents of the Central Kalahari Game
Reserve June 2006
The Bushmen asked an organisation called
SURVIVAL to help them negotiate with the
government to return to their land. You will see
a discussion between an activist from Survival
and a group of people in Botswana about the
Bushman.
Why are you here?
Why do you help
the Bushman? Do
you want them to
live in the past?
Some people in
Botswana
We don’t. This is not
about living in the past
or in ‘modern’ ways.
This is about their right
to the land of their
ancestors and to be
treated with respect.
We are here to support
them in defending their
rights.
Survival Activist
But living with the
animals is no way to
live! It is backwards!
Other people live
with animals too.
Thinking that their
way of life is inferior
is prejudice.
Some people in
Botswana
Survival Activist
But they are
primitive!
Some people in
Botswana
No, they are intelligent
human beings. They live
and eat well. They use their
surroundings as if it were
their supermarket. Other
Botswana citizens use their
herds in the same way, or
use their skills to earn
money to buy food. The
Bushmen use their skills to
get the food without needing
money to buy it. There is
nothing ‘primitive' about it at
all. They deserve respect for
their way of life, the same
as everyone else.
Survival Activist
These people live in
the past, they have
not changed!
Some people in
Botswana
This is not true. All societies
adapt and change – not just
modern society. They have
chosen to live in a way that
is different from our ways.
They are no more ‘savage’
than the rest of us.
Survival Activist
Forcing them to
adapt to modern
society is for their
own good. It will
help them catch up
with the civilised
world.
Some people in
Botswana
This idea has justified the
destruction of entire
peoples. The results of
forced ‘development’ are
almost always catastrophic
for them: poverty,
alcoholism, prostitution,
disease and death.
Survival Activist
But surely it is better
for them to live like
us. There is so
much they need to
learn!
Some people in
Botswana
Is there? They have no
debt, no bombs, no prisons,
no poverty, no
homelessness, no junk
food and no pollution.
Perhaps there are some
things WE need to learn
from them as well.
Survival Activist
Surely some people
are more advanced
than others!
Some people in
Botswana
This is an old European
idea used to justify
colonialism and fascism.
It is what European
racists used to say about
Africans. It has no basis
in science. Even if some
peoples were ‘inferior' or
‘backward' it still would
not justify violating their
rights. Certainly, some
societies are weaker than
others, but that is a
different thing.
Survival Activist
Do you believe in
progress?
Some people in
Botswana
Yes, we believe that
the fundamental basis
of all human ‘progress'
is respect for other
people, particularly
those who are weaker.
It is easy for
governments to respect
the majority and the
strong because they
have to!
Survival Activist
You should go back
to your country and
sort out your
problems. Leave the
problems in
Botswana for the
people of Botswana
to solve!
Some people in
Botswana
The basis for our work
is international law and
fundamental rights. The
Bushman asked for
support. We will stay
until this problem is
sorted.
Survival Activist
Based on an interview with Survival’s
director Steven Corry and on other
Survival materials. More information can
be found at
www.survival-international.org
No one can tell me how to live. If I told
a Minister to leave his home, he would
think that I am crazy!
1. Looking at PERSPECTIVES: image, film,
cartoon, song, story
2.Drawing or writing your FIRST
THOUGHTS and sharing it
3. Making QUESTIONS in pairs
4. VOTING on a question
5. TALKING about it
6. SHARING what we have learned
1. Looking at PERSPECTIVES: image, film,
cartoon, song, story
2. Drawing or writing your FIRST THOUGHTS
and sharing it
3. Making QUESTIONS in pairs
4. VOTING on a question
5. TALKING about it
6. SHARING what we have learned
1. Looking at PERSPECTIVES: image, film,
cartoon, song, story
2. Drawing or writing your FIRST THOUGHTS
and sharing it
3. Making QUESTIONS in pairs
4. VOTING on a question
5. TALKING about it
6. SHARING what we have learned
1. Looking at PERSPECTIVES: image, film,
cartoon, song, story
2. Drawing or writing your FIRST THOUGHTS
and sharing it
3. Making QUESTIONS in pairs
4. VOTING on a question
5. TALKING about it
6. SHARING what we have learned
1. Looking at PERSPECTIVES: image, film,
cartoon, song, story
2. Drawing or writing your FIRST THOUGHTS
and sharing it
3. Making QUESTIONS in pairs
4. VOTING on a question
5. TALKING about it
6. SHARING what we have learned