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dam-l Himba article
>
>------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
>Date: Mon, 23 Feb 1998 12:28:24 +0000
>From: Richard Garside <survival@gn.apc.org>
>Reply-to: survival@gn.apc.org
>Organization: Survival International
>To: survival@gn.apc.org
>Subject: The Himba people of northern Namibia
>
>The following article on the Himba people appeared in the Sunday
>Telegraph of February 22, 1998. For non-UK recipients, the Sunday
>Telegraph is one of the largest circulation and influential of Britain's
>
>Sunday Newspapers.
>
>Survival can provide briefing material, stills and broadcast quality
>footage of Himba people.
>--
>Survival
>Press Officer: Richard Garside
>
>11-15 Emerald Street
>London WC1N 3QL
>United Kingdom
>
>Phone: 0171-242 1441
>Fax: 0171-242 1771
>Email:survival@gn.apc.org
>Internet: http://www.survival.org.uk/
>
>Survival is a worldwide organisation supporting tribal peoples. It
>stands for their right to decide their own future and helps them protect
>
>their lives, lands and human rights.
>
>
>
>Electronic Telegraph
>International News
>Sunday 22 February 1998
>Issue 1003
>
>Dam spells death for one of Africa's last tribes
>By Clare Pillinger, Epupa Falls, northern Namibia
>
>They are one of the last unspoilt tribes of Africa, but the Himba
>people, nomadic cattle herders who protect their naked bodies with ochre
>
>and animal fat, may soon be wiped out by modern technology.
>
>The Namibian government is planning to build a massive hydro-electric
>dam on the Himba's traditional grazing grounds. Not only will the dam
>totally submerge the world-renowned Epupa waterfall but more than 1,000
>of the dwindling tribe's people, will be forced to move away from their
>remote ancestral lands.
>
>Many thousands more will be affected when sacred burial sites and
>valuable grazing land are flooded by the dam on the Kunene River on the
>Namibian/Angolan border. More than 6,000 trees will also be lost.
>
>For four centuries, the Himba people have survived drought and war but
>many believe that the dam could finally destroy their culture and
>traditional way of life.
>
>The proposed influx of around 5,000 outside workers to build the dam is
>also likely to have disastrous effects on the health and social
>stability of the Himba people. Few of the local population are likely to
>
>gain employment but all will be affected by the crime, disease and
>prostitution likely to come with any new community built for the
>construction workers.
>
>The project has received widespread condemnation from local people as
>well as international environmental groups.
>
>Most energy experts and other analysts regard the dam as a white
>elephant whose real purpose is not to supply cost-effective power but to
>
>bring jobs to the majority Ovambo ethnic group to gain political support
>
>for the ruling party.
>
>During the Bush War of the Eighties over Namibian independence, the
>Himbas were armed by the South African Defence Forces to defend
>themselves against Swapo (South West African People's Organisation).
>Since 1990, Swapo has been the ruling party and many locals regard the
>dam in the heart of Himba land as a means of settling old scores. Andrew
>
>Corbett, a human rights lawyer representing Himba leaders who oppose the
>
>dam, said: "If the dam goes ahead, the spiritual importance of the land
>for the Himbas and the Epupa falls will be lost forever.
>
>"From their point of view, they will not benefit in any way. They will
>not get jobs from the project; they will not use the water or the power
>it will generate."
>
>But one Namibian government minister, Hidopo Hamutenya, has suggested
>that it is time for the Himbas to modernise. In one interview, he said:
>"They should be in ties and suits, rather than being naked and half
>dressed."
>
>Even now, many of the Himbas still lead a very traditional way of life.
>Many still wear their traditional dress and the tall, beautiful women
>cover their bodies with jewellery that they make from stones and the
>bark of trees.
>
>Although widely untouched by Western culture, some of the Himbas'
>traditional ways are already starting slowly to disappear due to a
>limited exposure to tourism. A spokesman for London-based Survival
>International, a worldwide organisation supporting tribal people which
>is actively involved in the campaign against the project, said it would
>be a tragedy if the dam goes ahead.
>
>He said: "A lot of people are very suspicious of this project which
>seems deeply flawed. If the dam is built at Epupa or further along at an
>
>alternative smaller site, the impact on the Himbas is still going to be
>disastrous."
>
>c Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1998. Terms & Conditions of reading.
>************************************
>Steve Rothert
>International Rivers Network
>Okavango Liaison Group
>Plot 253 Moremi Road
>PO Box 2427
>Gaborone, Botswana
>Tel: 267-353-337, Fax/Message: 267-359-337
>Email: stever@info.bw
>************************************
>