CHILDREN of the marginalised San communities who speak the ancient !Kung language can for the first time read stories in their mother tongue after the first printed readers were launched at a remote San school at Mangetti Dune east of Grootfontein last month.

David Bjarnason, project manager of the Icelandic International Development Agency (Iceida), which supported the writing and printing of the !Kung storybooks, said his nation only had 500 000 people and if the Icelandic language was lost one day due to globalisation, it would be sad.

"The former Icelandic president, Vigdís Finnbogadttir, is a now a Unesco Goodwill Ambassador for languages. She has travelled the world in this capacity, highlighting the fact that languages around the world are disappearing, and with them the rich cultural tapestry," said Bjarnason, who is an anthropologist.

He said preserving languages in the modern age was extremely important.

About 100 000 San people live in southern Africa; 30 000 of them in Namibia.

Royal /Ui/o/oo, a Member of the National Assembly and a San speaker of the nearby Tsumkwe area, said life for the San communities was very difficult today.

"Often those who are trusted by Government and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to assist San people are failing dismally and have no mercy for San people."

On the other hand, San leaders were not fighting for the rights of their people, he added.

"As a result, some San communities have given up their traditional names, their norms and values, which are thus disappearing because of this situation they find themselves in," said /Ui/o/oo.

Brighten Simasiku, Namibian Support Unit Manager of the Working Group for Indigenous Minorities in Southern Africa (Wimsa), said at the launch that almost all research done on the San noted that school dropout rates are severe, especially during or just after primary school, and only a handful San make it to tertiary education.

"Specific challenges include bullying, poverty, child labour, teenage pregnancy and language issues. Learning in the mother tongue - associated with higher retention rates particularly in the lower years - is limited for most San languages. Challenges for teaching in San languages during the first three years arise from lack of materials, lack of a standardised linguistic orthographies and a lack of teachers available to teach in San languages," said Simasiku.

"For us to stand here with these books in our hands is a result of commitment and the participation of your community leaders. This is a proof that you can do things on your own for the benefit of your communities," the Wimsa representative told the large crowd of San speakers at Mangetti Dune.

Wimsa regional education advisor Maria Namupala said the organisation's aim to develop materials in San languages for primary education had reached was done in cooperation with the Education Ministry and support from Iceida.

About 500 !Kung readers were printed. Icelandic support for Namibia will cease by next year due to the near collapse of that island's economy in 2008 as a result of the global credit crunch.