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A woman for all seasons 

2010-02-05 12:01:00

A woman for all seasons

Interview with Baba Festus, Human Rights activist and Operations Manager at !Khwa ttu Educational and Training Centre. Text and pictures by Lesley Beake.

Baba Festus is an impressive person by anybody’s measure. She settles herself into the interview, giving willingly of her precious time on a busy Saturday at !Khwa ttu – keeping an eagle eye on the activities around her while she considers her answers to my questions.

‘I’m an adventurous person,’ she says, with a gleam in her eye, ‘I like to explore, meet new people … find what’s out there!’

What’s out there has included several trips to the United Nations in New York and Geneva to represent the rights of her own San people, with WIMSA (Working Group of Indigenous Minorities in Southern Africa) on the matter of basic human rights for minority peoples

‘It’s an important job, and it is just as important to give feedback to the community and to get input from them. People on the ground don’t always get the information.

‘In advance I prepare by drafting a paper outlining the issues that seem to be most urgent. Then I send it to WIMSA who make sure it reaches the people, giving them a chance to raise matters that they feel strongly about. I take all they say into account before I make my report to the UN.

‘My work started, really, when I was very small. I was one of thirteen children. Where I come from, we didn’t have it all. We grew up in a poor environment. There were school excursions – but I would never ask for money for them because I grew up knowing that money was for food. Shoes were another thing … we were teased at school if we didn’t have shoes, but there was no money for them either.

‘So I found whatever work I could – sweeping floors, or washing dishes for neighbours.  There was no play at weekends. There was no money for electricity either, so we studied by streetlight. I wanted to get out of that – to change my circumstances. As a result of those early experiences, I’m used to going out on my own. I’m a challenger.’

And the dream that drove her forward? ‘My dream was to go to America. Now I have been to America – but I haven’t reached my goal yet. When I was a kid, I fell in love with a place in a TV series – Minnesota! It’s not where everyone dreams of going, but it is my dream, and one day I’ll get there!

‘My first trip to the USA was to New York in 2006. I wanted to pinch myself! I just couldn’t believe I was really seeing those yellow cabs everywhere. I went on two Indigenous Fellowships, training courses in Geneva for six months. While we were doing that, we went to the USA to the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues for two weeks and to UNESCO in Paris for a two-week internship in culture and tourism. I have also done a two-week internship at the International Labour Organization (ILO).

‘In 2007 I attended a two-week human rights training course including basic human rights, UN structures and UN treaty bodies course at the International Training Centre for indigenous Peoples in Illulisat, Greenland. That was the cherry on the cake! Obviously it was cold – 35 degrees below freezing! And I was knee high in the snow. I just wish I had done this before the Indigenous Fellowship programme. Greenland was an overview – it would have been good if we could have stretched that out, rather, and absorbed more. Time was very short.

‘Then, in 2009, I went to Switzerland for a week for the second session of the Expert Mechanisms for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. That involved careful listening – as well as a big climate adjustment from winter to summer.’

Where does Baba find her energy?  She laughs. ‘I don’t want to kick myself one day and ask myself: “Why didn’t you do these things?” And when I look back … I wound up, years ago, as a hairdresser in the very conservative town of Upington (Northern Cape). At one stage I was supporting most of my siblings on a very low salary. I loved working with people – but I didn’t see that as the end of the line.

‘One day I decided. Enough is enough. My sister was working at the South African San Institute (SASI) and I asked her to ask !Khwa ttu if they needed anybody. She phoned Michael (Daiber CEO of  !Khwa ttu). My friend who worked there was doing an education course at Bergzicht in Stellenbosch, so he said I could work in her place – but temporary. Only for a few months! I decided that, even if it meant going back to square one afterwards, I would take the chance. I wrote my letter of resignation, and was on the bus to !Khwa ttu the next day!

‘Michael was busy. I waited … Monday I waited … Tuesday I waited … then I went to him. “Look,” I said, “These two hands are for working. I can do anything!” I think you have to be honest with each other. I stuck up for better pay. I told him not to tell me off in front of other people. We know where we stand. I came for six months - and I have been here for nine years now!’

Baba Festus is a woman who has every right to be proud of what she has achieved; she is. ‘I’ve achieved quite a lot. I didn’t look at my circumstances and use them as an excuse not to become someone. Now I’ve got a driver’s license and have bought myself a car. I’m proud of the milestones I have reached. My life is a long journey – and I’m still not finished!’

No. She’s not. (And Minnesota had better get ready.)

Baba Festus is Operations Manager at !Khwa ttu San Cultural and Education Centre on the West Coast near Cape Town, South Africa. For more details visit: http://www.khwattu.org

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