A Big Step Forward

As we left Katima Mulilo, Percy, Jack and we wondered what to expect. We had confirmed our Friday morning appointment with Principal Matthew at the Chetto Primary School and hoped it would prove fruitful. The two hour drive is split into two halves with a nice stop for fuel and snacks about halfway there. As we pulled up to the pump, Abby exclaimed, “Oh no, we forgot our passports!” And, we had. Tucked neatly away in our room safe, we had simply forgotten them in our rush to leave on time. The problem? There would be an immigration checkpoint as we entered the National Park about five miles up the road.

Jack encouraged us not to give up. He implored us: “We’ll just tell them what happened before they ask for your ID’s so they know we’re honest. They know me. I pass here every month. And, they won’t detain you. We might have to return to Katima, but they won’t detain you if they decide not to let us proceed. I’m telling you, they won’t detain you!” Percy was far less confident, concerned that they might indeed detain us. Jack urged us to take the risk. We struggled to decide. Finally, after about ten minutes of discussion, we decided to try our luck at “Checkpoint Charlie.”

As we waited for the immigration officer to approach the vehicle, Jack and Percy rolled down their windows, and the moment he stepped up, Jack began telling him about our predicament. The conversation was not in English, but we watched the body language of the officer, and it didn’t look good. He was clearly unhappy, and asked Jack and Percy to exit the vehicle and come with him to discuss things with his senior officer. We waited in the car while they did so.

The conversation among the four of them was loud and seemed a bit intense, but at last it was punctuated by a bit of laughter. Percy headed back to the car to tell us that the senior officer wanted to get a good look at our faces. We rolled down our windows as he approached our side, and Doug, deciding a little self-effacement might help, said, “So you want to see what a stupid American looks like?” Thankfully, he laughed, and with a warm smile said, “Human error!” Then he told us we could proceed, but firmly warned us to return before their shift ended in 3.5 hours. After that, we would not be allowed to pass by the next shift of officers, and might very well be detained. Since we were an hour away from Chetto, that would give us only an hour or so for our visit. Not much, but given our mistake, it was a bit of grace, to be sure. We assured him we would return on time and headed to Chetto.

As we drove away, we got the full story about Jack and Percy’s conversation with the two officers. As it turned out, and much to Jack’s surprise and delight, the senior officer and Jack had graduated from the same village secondary school years before and knew each other. Not only that, the senior officer and Jack had been members of a school club together during their senior year, a club for which Jack was the President. The name of the club? You can’t make this stuff up. Seriously, you just can’t. The name of the club was Caprivi Youth Against Crime!

We can’t begin to tell you how significant our 1.5 hours at the Chetto Primary School turned out to be. Principal Matthew welcomed us warmly, as did Life Skills teacher, Betty. Also joining us was our Khwe friend, Pastor Nelson, along with the Social Sciences teacher, David, whom we had not previously met. David, it turns out, chairs the school board of which Nelson is a key member, along with four other Khwe parents whom we have not yet met.

Matthew openly discussed the key concerns among the Khwe children, among them child physical and sexual abuse, early marriage, and drug and alcohol abuse. As we listened, we were deeply provoked by the depth of the need. The teachers are all young, most at their first posting. Their supplied housing is mud huts. The school is neglected, even forgotten by the district for various reasons, so their resources are severely limited. The Khwe children are handicapped by rampant drunkenness among the parents who have little hope in improving the community. Some of the children have to walk as far as twenty miles every Friday to get home, often to find that their parents are another twenty miles deeper into the bush looking for Devil’s Claw, a tuber that they sell as an herbal medicine, and so they walk even more miles to join them. On Mondays, they then walk back to school, and arrive hungry and exhausted. Despite these conditions, the school district expects the teachers to succeed with these kids using a traditional classroom approach. Matthew and the teachers fight discouragement every day because of these things. You get the picture.

Bottom line, we committed to a long term partnership with Matthew and the teachers which Percy and Jack will explore more deeply in the coming months. We did discover that there is a decent lodge about an hour beyond Chetto in Divundu, so Percy will check that out, too. If it is workable, we could stay there and drive daily to Chetto for a week or, perhaps, two weeks next year. Our goal will be to add value to what the teachers are trying to do, and to encourage them because they are the ones on the front line. Abby and Betty exchanged phone numbers so they can talk by WhatsApp over the next few months, as well. Things seem promising. We’ll see.

As we walked outside for photos, we were joined by Katarina, the Entrepreneurship teacher, who was delightful. Then, Betty overheard Percy speaking in Lozi to Matthew, and this led to the discovery that all the teachers speak Lozi as their second language, with their tribal languages being their first and English being their third. We explained to Betty that we’d been working with the Lozi since 2006, and that Percy was Lozi. Well, the friendly conversation took off from there as we chatted and got to know one another a bit better. After photos, laughter-filled hugs and handshakes were exchanged, and we left feeling we had taken a major step forward in our relationships.

We arrived at our immigration checkpoint thirty minutes before the end of the officers’ shift. The junior officer was delighted we had kept our agreement to return on time, and it was obvious we had made a bit of a friend, so to speak. We were still stupid to forget our passports, but God is good, and his grace is sufficient. We drove back to Katima grateful for our day.

Sunday, we worshipped at Jesus Kingdom Ministries, Jack and Kaleny’s church; Abby spoke words of encouragement and Doug preached. It was great to worship with old friends, and we enjoyed a long lunch with Jack and Kaleny afterward. On Monday, we returned to Livingstone, Zambia, to do leadership training at Multiply Church, led by our friends Pastor Esau and his wife, Mirriam. But, that’s a subject for another blog.

Please keep us in your prayers as we continue our trip. We are so grateful for your messages of encouragement, and your support, as well. And, remember, where we go you go!

We spotted This magnificent male ostrich on the road to chetto primary school.

Lto R: David, Nelson, Betty, Jack, Percy, Matthew & Katarina

Khwe SCHOOLCHILDREN at chetto primary school love to be photographed!

We spotted these Khwe children playing as we drove out of chetto primary school.

Jesus kingdom ministries: Kaleny is waving and jack is wearing the vest.

church planter rosa gave a passionate report about what the lord is doing in jesus kingdom ministries’ new village church. The daughter of a witchdoctor, she has faced intense opposition from her family and community, but that hasnt stopped her!

This is one way to prepare the offering basket!

We saw this beautiful impala buck on our way through chobe national park as we traveled to Livingstone, zambia via botswana.