Almost a thousand kilometres north east of Windhoek, in Namibia, the San communities live in one of the few green terrains in this largely desert country. The place is called Tsumkwe.

The San, also known as the Basarwa or Khwe, are the oldest inhabitants of southern Africa where they have lived for at least 20,000 years. Their home was the Kalahari Desert, which is now divided between Botswana, Namibia, Angola and South Africa.

Away from most modern technologies, the majority of the San communities are still living like their ancestors. Electricity, clean water and sanitation, telephone roads and computers are not part of their everyday life. Instead, like a thousand years ago, it still revolves around their typically natural environment, especially hunting. However, the natural resources that are the sources of their livelihood, are fast getting depleted. So there is a need for them to slowly adapt to a new life.

The Namibia Red Cross Society is one of the few organisations that have decided to take the challenge of helping the San people to adapt to modern life. "We decided to implement a risk reduction programme here to try and help the San people adapt to small scale farming," said Razia Essack Kauaria, the Secretary General of Namibia Red Cross. "It is beyond any argument that the wildlife is generally and gradually depleting as a result of different factors. And that alone would leave these communities vulnerable."

2005 was a bad year for the San communities as they were among the worst hit by food insecurity in southern Africa. As the rain season faltered, the small fields wilted under the scorching sun. There was no other source of food except eating scarce wild leaves, roots and wildlife. So the help of Namibia Red Cross was more than welcome.

"I can't wait to start planting. The rains have been good to us and I have a lot of work ahead of me to make sure my children and my communities get enough food," said Ngugas, a Tsumkwe villager. The Namibia Red Cross Society distributed 4 kg of maize seed, 20 kg of fertilizer and 20g of various vegetable seed per household. This was enough to feed over 50 people and to keep some of it for the next season. It also allowed them to sell some of the harvest to buy other basic products and raise money to buy other basic products.

The Red Cross seed distribution operation was targeted at approximately 2,000 households in the Kavango, Caprivi and Tsumkwe areas, to benefit vulnerable people such as the San communities, orphans and vulnerable children and home-based care clients participating in the HIV and Tuberculosis programme. This is seen as a positive beginning to a long journey and the Namibia Red Cross wants to do more with the communities, if funds permit.

"Given this background it is imperative for us as a humanitarian organization to work with these communities and ensure that they adapt to this new life. But it is important to say we are very pleased with the cooperation that we are getting from the San people. They are willing to cooperate," added Razia.

One of the San Chiefs is convinced that this intervention will certainly mark a turning point for his communities. "It is obvious that we now live differently from the nomadic life we were used to for centuries. In Omatako, we can now see real homes, a primary school, a small clinic, crop fields and even livestock such as goats and cattle," said San Chief John Arnold of Omatako village. "I am really honored to witness this chapter of evolution in our lives. As a San person faced with food insecurity, the seed helps us to defeat hunger," he added.

But this is just the beginning of a new journey to modern day life with more challenges ahead. The San people, due to their reluctance to intermarry with other tribes, have been spared for a long time from the deadly HIV and AIDS pandemic that is threatening the lives of millions of people in Sub-Saharan Africa. The prevalence rate is still very low, though some medical specialists have hinted that the San people are now vulnerable to an epidemic.

Historically the San people used to marry very young. Most marriages are monogamous though polygamy is practiced sometimes according to wealth.

In most San community tribes, hunting used to be regarded as of great importance in obtaining a wife. Killing a large, sometimes dangerous animal would earn a hunter a wife with the best part of the meat presented to the girl's parents as a marriage proposal. Perhaps these cultural practices may have contributed to the reduced HIV prevalence today.

But things are changing. A nice gravel road has made it possible for tourists, development workers and many other people from outside the Tsumkwe to travel to the area. Small shops and service centers have been established.

"The San communities are now mixing with other tribes which expose them to HIV. We are now witnessing intermarriages among different tribes, says Miss Naemi Heita, the programme director for Namibia Red Cross. "Because of the few developmental projects that are being implemented in their area, some of them are being pressured to adopt the new lifestyle which is far beyond their reach. This may result in young girls getting involved in transactional sex."

"They are few people here who are already on antiretroviral treatment," said Dr Melitta Bosshart, the doctor in charge at Mangeti hospital. "Though the numbers are still very low we have established a home- based care programme together with the Red Cross to promote the culture of home caring among the San people. But the highest number of cases here are Tuberculosis patients due to overcrowding and poverty," she added.

Though the situation may look under control, analysts have indicated that Namibia has a high co-infection of HIV and TB which may spell disaster for the San communities.

"The young people here are now getting attracted to this new fast life, which is further exposing them to high risk activities," says Dr Bosshart.

"And we have worked towards reducing the spread of the virus in a community that still has high illiteracy levels. We are working with Red Cross here to carry out prevention activities."

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