The road just goes on and on with few villages and even fewer town. You always know when you get close to some form of settlement, because all along the road there will be donkeys, goats and sometimes horses. This country seems to have more donkeys than people. BTW, Botswana is about the size of France or the State of Texas, but has only 2 million inhabitants.
In a lodge in Kang where we spent the first night.
One of the towns we drove through is Ghanzi, and it seems to be a happening place! Donkey Derby, yay! too bad we missed it!
I love baobab trees! We stopped for lunch under this one close to Sehitwe.
One of the villages we visted is Kajaja with people from the Mbukushu tribe.
This is the local court where they still have public flogging
The Adventures4Christ team had been here before to show the Jesus film, so we showed the follow-up film called 'Walking with Jesus'. According to a pastor we worked with Kajaja has maybe 1 % of born-again Christians.
Shaikarawe to me was a fascinating place. To get to it it's like driving in the sand on a beach. The people in this village are San (Bushmen), and they speak Afrikaans aside from their local dialect that has a lot of clicking sounds.
The San people have been relocated from the central kalahari where they used to live as hunter-gatherers.
On the right you see the only water tap in the village. The Batswana people don't like the San people, so sometimes they'll take away a part to the pump which leaves the village without water for weeks.
The kids are so cute (and dirty!) The ground there is deep sand, and a long time ago they had a fire in the area and the ashes mixed with the sand. My feet were so dirty after a few hours there. Plus they don't have much water., which makes for dirty looking kids.
I had a great time playing with the kids.
Aren't they adorable? They don't have anything, but they are a happy bunch.
Here is Sanette telling a story about a catarpillar that turned into a butterfly.
One of two teachers at a little nursery school. We spend the afternoon with the kids; singing, Bible stories, games and an art project.
We had brought for each one of the 50 kids a folder with stationary for them to use in school
To go along with the story we did a butterfly painting
At dusk we set up the equipment to show the film 'Walking with Jesus'. We played African Chrsitian video clips over the loudspeakers to let people know that something is happening. The sound carries far, and people come walking long distances to see the film.
I'm telling the kids the story of Joseph with Annetjie illustrating it. Sophie was a big help with translating for us.
Monica (on the right) runs the school. She really loves the kids.
We had brought lots of Christian educational material sponsored by Activated Ministries, and they were so thankful for it. They said that in the remote areas they have primary, but the government doesn't do much for nursery schools, so there is not much material available. The STEPS Program is going to be a big blessing to them.
Here are Henk and Johan, who were part of our team, putting up mosquito screens on the veranda at the house of missionaries Leon and Annetjie in Sepopa. We had put up our tents in their yard. Oom Leon and Tannie Annetjie are amazing people, giving a lot to work here in this part of Botswana. They have been here for years, and I tell you, physically it's a tough life! And I am sure spiritually as well.
It looks like this donkey is smiling for the photo, but actually he started braying very loudly when I took out my camera.
Having a quiet moment under a shady tree. October in Botswana is called the suicide month because it gets so hot.
Some wonderful people in Pretoria gave me 3 big boxes full of stationary and toys to take for the children. Annetjie and I are sorting the toys to make sure there is enough for everyone.
These are the kids from the Sunday school in Sepopa. All the school aged kids got a folder with lots of goodies they can use for school, as well as coloring books, play dough and more for fun projects.
The little ones got some cute toys.
Writing a dedication into some inspirational books for Sophie.
Annetjie is working with kids and care givers in 5 villages. I was happy that we were able to leave her with a box full of great Christian books, CDs and DVDs to use in her ministry.
