The Women’s Leadership Centre (WLC) has launched a project to keep San children, many of whom face challenges accessing quality education, in school.

The San Children Embrace Education Project, launched in Windhoek on Thursday, aims to strengthen educational opportunities and support for San children and their communities.

San youth face various challenges, including poverty, hunger, teenage pregnancy and discrimination, among others.

During the event WLC director Liz Frank said: “We hope to keep children in school, support them when things get tough, and work with teachers.”

The centre was established in 2017 to protect young San girls and to empower them to remain in school.

The project also operated in the Omaheke, Oshikoto and Kavango East regions this year.

The launch brought together participants from Omega 1, Mu’ciku, Likwaterera, and Ndama in the Kavango East, Tsintsabis and Farm Six in Oshikoto, Drimiopsis in Omaheke, and Chaka in the Zambezi region, who shared their experiences of enduring fear and shame due to discrimination.

“With the launch of the project, most children will be empowered to kill the shyness away,” said WLC coordinator for the Omaheke region Maria Garises.

Deputy director for quality assurance in the Ministry of Education, Innovation, Youth, Sport, Arts and Culture Gottlieb Shikongo, speaking at the event, said San children are the most marginalised group in the country, having endured generational traumas including displacement, genocide and forced labour.

“This often left our people feeling a sense of shame regarding their identity and language,” he added.

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