San bemoan poverty despite govt support

Eba Kandovazu EENHANA – Under a large tree on the outskirts of Eenhana, in a settlement called Opalasa, a San family of more than 30 people begins and ends every day in the same fragile space they call home. With no proper rooms and only makeshift structures known as ‘Omapundo’, built from sticks, wood, and plastic bags arranged around the trunk of a tree, the house shelters children, parents, grandparents, and great-grandchildren, all sharing the crowded and unstable living space. Seventy-year-old Helena Ekondo sits quietly beneath the tree, watching her family move around her.

Her voice is steady, but heavy with exhaustion. “We are not happy. We fight snakes and scorpions.

When it rains, water comes into our homes. We don’t have blankets. We struggle to sleep,” she said.

The tree offers shade during the day, but no protection from hunger, cold, or flooding at night. “We want the government to do something. We are suffering.

We have no jobs, no means of survival,” Ekondo said. However, beyond food support, efforts are being made to improve access to education.