The Ju/’hoansi (also called the San or Bushmen) of Southern Africa, thrived very successfully as hunter gatherers for thousands of years until very recently, when their way of living was destroyed by more aggressive and colonising societies. They lived in sustainable, healthy and happy small communities based on mutual respect and consciousness towards each other and the environment. Their ancestral communities are a huge contrast to the modern, western lifestyle that is dependent on money, food and imported goods, with constant competition with everyone in order to survive and thrive.

Many people in modern societies are looking for more natural, healthy and sustainable ways of life in harmony with people and the natural environment. We are aware that nobody can return to fully hunter gatherer lifestyle any more, but some values of the old way are much better than the modern ones.

Looking deeper into the old way of the Ju/’hoansi, we find a many customs we could learn from. For example, the way they treat children, other people, prizing equality, inclusion and fairness, mentally and physically healthy. They live in peace, conscious of the community’s well being, living sustainably on the land, in combination with a range of high level skills, like plant knowledge and use, hunting ways, tracking and many more.

As the Ju/’hoansi were relocated into towns like Tsumkwe, their old knowledge and skills began to rapidly disappear while poor health, TB, alcoholism and crime appeared. Nowadays, some of them have decided to reverse this trend, moving back into the Nyae Nyae wilderness, starting to eat healthily again, relying on what nature provides, and keeping community, provisioning and craft skills alive, for a better living and future.

For us in Europe this is a great chance too, as we could regularly visit them, learn from them and support them in many ways. To this end we are creating an international network of rewilding humans for a better and sustainable future.