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Cell: + 264-81-2612709 P.O.Box 99292, Windhoek, Namibia |
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Conservation Wildlife and rehabilitation centre Bushmen community Life line clinic 
At N/a'an ku sê we have a community commitment to make conservation fly.
All efforts are made to direct the local communities to preserve our endangered wildlife population. We are devoted to protect our fragile grassland and habitat... Even local farmers have joined in effort. Our believe is that by personally become active in experiencing the spectacular ecosystem. We need to protect, and those who become engaged will be enlightened and empowered ... and will build Memories of a lifetime too. 
Our aim: To market a skillful combination of luxury and integration with the environment,
conserve and rescue species threatened by an ever-shrinking habitat.
Threatened animals are rescued, following a range of complete health check ups, cared for and or relocated to other conservation friendly farms with proper habitat and food chain. The emphasis of N/a'an ku sê ecological understanding of the savannah and bush-veldt, and the surrounding area, is an ecological understanding and it will leave you with a sense of fulfillment and achievement. In order to preserve the soul of this farmland, we incorporated a landscape garden of only indigenous plants and trees. 
We are integrating a management plan as to work closely together with landowners, traditional communities, Ministry of Wildlife and Environment and affected government departments as to conserve. We cannot undo what has been done ... but we can shape our future. You can support travel, and built a mutual respect of awareness and understanding, to that which is vital to preservation of this earth for future generations. 
The centre was developed to care for orphaned and injured animals. It is currently provides a
safe sanctuary for Lions, Leopards, Cheetahs, Wild Dogs within large purpose built enclosures
which are surrounded by electric fencing powered by solar panels. The smaller animals such as
Baboons, Meerkats, Mongoose and African Wild Cats are cared for by volunteers from across the
world who pay to stay as working guests in order to gain hands on experience with African
wildlife and who play an important role in maintaining and building new enclosures, feeding
and grooming the animals and partaking in the rescue and release (when possible) of animals
that come to N/a'an ku sê.
The name derived from Bushmen ( San) meaning: “God is watching over us”! 
Beyond the comforts of the lodge, N/a'an ku sê is also proud of its community
development and outreach programme, through which it educates the local San-Bushman, to
serve in the Tourism industry. Focus is on educating them and to provide them with
employment in and around the lodge.
Profit from the Lodge is for conservation projects, and to support a medical outreach project for the Bushmen community. 
Understand the ways of the Bushmen community, with their humble and friendly way of
living and you'll feel as though you've experienced a different part of Africa, quite
essential if you're to understand the complexity of this continent.
- Leaps upon leaps of imagination have led us from the root and the rope of the Bushmen, as they worked out how to make a rope many years ago. It started with their extraordinary knowledge of the plaints in their environment and even so bush medicine has lead to the pharmaceutical laboratory. 
Yet it all started with a walk in the wild ... As the worlds awakens to the need to conserve, the natural environment if we are to survive, perhaps the time has come to take a giant leap in imagination back in time to the traditional Bushmen's people inherent understanding of roots and ropes and our place in this world. Friendly. People that truly want to share their traditions and customs with visitors .... 
It was a cold August morning in 2003. A Bushman woman brought her ill baby to the back door of a farmhouse in Eastern Namibia. She was desperate. Marlice van Vuuren, a well known Namibian conservationist and trusted friend of the Bushman called her husband Dr. Rudie van Vuuren. The couple was visiting Marlice's parents on the farm Harnas where she grew up amongst wild animals and the Bushman. The child had severe respiratory distress and was severely malnourished and in a critical state. The nearest hospital was 100km away. Rudie phoned the ambulance at the hospital and demanded that they come and get the child at once. It was a public holiday in Namibia and Rudie could hear that the ambulance driver was not very keen to come and pick up the child. Two hours after the call Rudie realized that they had to take the child to Gobabis (the nearest town). They put up an IV line modified from an animal IV set, got in the car and drove to Gobabis. As they walked into the hospital in Gobabis the child went into cardio respiratory arrest. Marlice ran to the nursing station where three nurses on duty were sitting. They did not even get off their chairs as she explained to them what the situation was. Marlice and Rudie found the theatre and tried to resuscitate the child. The child died that day. In retrospect it became evident that there was severe medical negligence, mainly because the child was Bushman. 
Marlice and Rudie knew that they had to start doing something about the health needs of
the Bushman. Rudie, Marlice and their long time friend Chris Heunis, a pharmacist and
MBA graduate came together and decided to act. Rudie and Chris are involved with Khomas
Medical Services, the biggest private medical practice in Namibia. Chris started donating
medicine for the Bushman people while Rudie and Marlice started doing informal clinics
when visiting Harnas. It soon became evident that the need was far greater than they had
initially thought. They realized that they needed a permanent facility from where they
could do their clinics. They identified a building in the Epukiro town that would fulfill
their needs. It was a building of 170 sqm that was built in 2000 by a South African
company - Carewell Clinics. The company had built it as a private clinic. After six months
of operation the company was liquidated.
From 2000-2003 the clinic stood there and was unutilized. In November of 2003 Rudie went
to represent Namibia in the Rugby World Cup in Australia. Just before the team left Rudie
put an article in the local newspaper where he invited people to sponsor points in the
Rugby World Cup tournament. The funds would go towards the project and the project team
hoped that they would raise enough money to purchase the clinic building from the
auctioneer that did the liquidation of Carewell. Just before the team left for Australia,
Rudie was contacted by Dr, Jannes Brandt, Namibia's leading eye surgeon. Jannes mentioned
to Rudie that he was very interested in the Bushman Clinic Project. They agreed to get
together and discuss their cooperation once Rudie returned from the World Cup. On his
return Rudie and Jannes made contact. Jannes in the meantime had been approached by a
Dutch businessman, Mr. Jan Verburg, for possible financial support towards projects in
Namibia. Jannes arranged that Jan Verburg be taken out to the area of Epukiro by Rudie.
Jan Verburg decided to support the team's efforts by donating 20,000 Euro to purchase
the building in Epukiro. Now the team was really motivated and started looking for more
opportunities to really make a difference. They kept on going to the clinic once a month.
Sometimes it was very discouraging. On some days they saw 80 - 100 people on a Saturday.
The local people did not always understand that the medicine came out of their own funding
and sometimes would demand more medicine even though they did not need it.
In 2005 Jan Verburg paid another visit to the clinic. By now the project team had renovated the building into a clean and efficient primary healthcare clinic. They also employed the principle at the clinic where people that are able to afford, pay a nominal fee and the poor are treated for free. Jan Verburg asked the project team how he could help them as he was very satisfied by what he saw. The project team asked him to sponsor the salary of a nurse at the clinic for a year. He sponsored 15,000 Euro. 
The nurse has been at the clinic for two years. Her name is Anna Daries, a nurse of vast
experience who has worked in the rural areas of Namibia for many years. In 2006 Jan
Verburg asked Chris and Rudie to give him a job creation proposal. He felt that if they
could provide jobs to the unemployed Bushman in the area of the clinic that they would
be less exposed to poverty and its dreaded consequences. Chris, in conjunction with
Marlice who understands the Bushman the best wrote a proposal where she investigated
three possibilities: Small Scale Farming, De-bushing Farmland or Tourism Venture.
The tourism venture seemed to have the greatest potential in terms if sustainability. It
was proposed to Jan Verburg that a "Charity Lodge" be built close to Windhoek.
The vision for the future is to provide primary health care, with the emphasis on HIV and Tuberculosis. The clinic will become a community health recourse centre offering information programs on alcohol and substance dependency. It is also envisaged that the clinic will offer education, training and job-creating opportunity programmes for the people in the area, but with emphasis on the Bushmen (San) communities. |
