Dumela (hello) from Ngarange, Botswana!
I only have access to internet once a week so I am sorry for the delay in posting a blog. I do encourage all of you to do some research on the Okavango Delta because that’s where I’m living this month! …No, not the tourist-y lodges you will see on your initial Google search, but specifically the villages along the river such as the one we are living in-Ngarange (pronounced “gah-ra-n-gay”). We live in a one-bedroom house on the delta with no electricity, no running water in the bathroom, and no wifi, but I have never experienced so much joy. –Besides the heat and mosquitoes. Heat and mosquitoes suck-
Before I go any further, I want to back up and give you some general information about this month.
Our ministry hosts are Mama Paula Currie and Auntie Maggie Setlhare. They are the founder and president of an organization called ADORE Little Children Botswana. Mama Paula is from Australia and was called to “the most needed area” of Botswana nearly a decade ago. Auntie Maggie is a native of Botswana (Motswanan), but spent the majority of her adult life in London and NYC serving as an ambassador for her home country. The two came together about 7 years ago when Mama Paula was on a mission trip to Botswana and Auntie Maggie was visiting home. God placed a vision and desire to work with foster children into both of their hearts and they have been perusing it ever since. In 2012, ADORE Little Children Botswana was born. The organization feeds and teaches children ages 3 and 4. They also oversee a rehabilitation center for people in the village of Ngarange. We are their very first world race team!!
-What we do—Each day here in the village looks different, but typically I wake up at 6 and walk across the street to ADORE. We feed the 5 year olds porridge made of fermented maize meal before sending them down the road to school. Then we feed the 3 and 4 year olds. After a cup of porridge, the kids are split up by age and taken into classrooms to play and learn Setswana and English. My teammates Bronwyn, Ashley, and Laura all help in these classes. They toilet train the kids, teach them songs in English, and record their behavioral and learning abilities/disabilities.
Mama Paula and Auntie Maggie took information from our WR profiles and placed us in specific ministry opportunities based on our interests, passions, and expertise. For example, because of my background in Cultural Anthropology, they assigned me to go around doing assessments of the bushman people in the village (the indigenous population of the Okavango). I take a translator and we go through a series of questions such as: name, age, how many children, where they get their water from, do they have any income, and do they have enough food to feed everyone in their household. This is creating a first time record of these seemingly forgotten people. Many of them were born or have given birth out in the bush (the nearest hospital is 6 hours away in Maun) and have no record of their birthdates. I am so honored and excited to serve and get to know these people. I have collected so many individual stories that I am eager to share with you, but that will have to wait for another blog. In the meantime, here are some things my prayer warriors can be praying for:
1. The team- living so closely together, culture shock, and the heat are satan’s way of trying to gain a foothold. Please pray for unity and strength for Warriors of Peace.
2. 2. Our hosts- Auntie Maggie and Mama Paula are phenomenal women of God and they are here day in and day out by themselves (we are their first world race team). Pray for endurance to run the race the Lord has set before them and for the every day challenges that arise for them in this remote area.
3. Witchcraft- This is a spiritually heavy place due to the witchcraft that takes place all around. At night I can lie in bed and hear the drums of the cults practicing their rituals. I never feel unsafe, but the dark spiritual realm is definitely constantly at play. Pray for the blood of Jesus to wash over this place and take away the oppression that exists here.
Thank you all for your love and support, My team and I are all happy and healthy. This morning we are getting ready to head to the boarder to go into Namibia (yay! another passport stamp!) for a game drive (safari)! I will take lots of pictures!
xx
Ali
