Efforts to support Botswana San with their Covid-19 struggles

The document highlights the extreme vulnerability of the San community in D’kar, Botswana, during the Covid-19 pandemic. It notes that government lockdown measures and health advice are ineffective because they ignore the communal living conditions, high poverty levels, and linguistic needs of the San. The author warns that the pandemic threatens the survival of the San's ancient culture and traditional knowledge, while detailing grassroots efforts to provide hygiene supplies and information.

• The San community in D’kar, Botswana, faces extreme vulnerability to Covid-19 due to dire poverty, overcrowded housing, and communal cultural practices involving the sharing of food and utensils, which make lockdown regulations difficult to implement.
• The San experience systemic discrimination and racism within healthcare settings, characterized by derogatory language and coercive treatment from medical staff, which may be worsened by emergency regulations.
• Government responses to the pandemic have been largely ineffective for the San because health information is primarily provided in Tswana and fails to account for San culture or their living conditions.
• The pandemic has caused significant economic loss for the San, particularly those employed in the tourism sector who have been retrenched and now rely on insufficient government food rations.
• There is a critical risk that the Covid-19 pandemic could lead to the permanent loss of the San's indigenous culture, including traditional knowledge of nature, conservation, and medicine.

APA

Martens, C. (2020). Efforts to support Botswana San with their Covid-19 struggles. Natural Justice. https://naturaljustice.org/efforts-to-support-botswana-san-with-their-covid-19-struggles/

Chicago

Martens, Claire. Efforts to support Botswana San with their Covid-19 struggles. Natural Justice, 2020. https://naturaljustice.org/efforts-to-support-botswana-san-with-their-covid-19-struggles/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Martens |first1=Claire |title=Efforts to support Botswana San with their Covid-19 struggles |publisher=Natural Justice |date=21 May 2020 |url=https://naturaljustice.org/efforts-to-support-botswana-san-with-their-covid-19-struggles/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{martens2020efforts, author = {Martens, Claire}, title = {{Efforts to support Botswana San with their Covid-19 struggles}}, publisher = {Natural Justice}, year = {2020}, month = may, url = {https://naturaljustice.org/efforts-to-support-botswana-san-with-their-covid-19-struggles/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }