82岁姐妹三人60年后重返家乡南非
This is not really our land. There's our land in the park. That's our land.
82-year-old F Copper and her sisters Keyes and Katrina were born in the Kalahari in southwest Africa. They are Khomani San, part of a group of people who have been living in this region for perhaps thousands of years, and they want to go home.
When we were consulted, we asked for our land back.
The sisters and their people were driven off their land after South Africa established the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park in the 1930s. VD, their home, fell within its borders. Some of their people were persecuted, others exterminated. The animals of the Kalahari flourished. The San did not.
A mob burned down our homes. My father was already lying dead in VD. Then we, the Bushman, were scattered as we are now, living apart.
In 2002, the Khomani San settled a historical land claim. Now after 60 years in exile, F, Keyes and Katrina are going home.
This is VD. My father had this land.
The sisters' return heralds the start of a new conservation movement, one that recognizes the rights of displaced people to have a say in how Africa's parks are run. Huge conservation zones are in the works for southern Africa, six new megaparks known as peace parks will cross national borders. Already open, the Kgalagadi Transfrontier park has merged the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park with a neighboring park in Botswana. At the same time, people like F and her sisters can finally go home. Although their community still faces daunting challenges. They will share their traditional knowledge with the next generation, with the hope that they can help pull the San way of life back from the verge of extinction.