Bushmanland, North Western Kalahari system, Namibia – a “reservation” kind of place, where the San Bushman tribe of the Kung people live, speaking the ancient Ju:Hoansi language.  They are spread over this area in small villages, 20-50 people, most of them still surviving on hunting and gathering, even though this is a sad statement, since there is hardly any game to hunt and the variety of roots and berries in the wild is shrinking fast due to climate change.

Hunger is therefore the order of the day.  For years we’ve been trying to alleviate this situation by implementing small gardens around each water system, protected by a large circular wall built of stones to keep the elephants and other animals away.

In one of our projects, we were driving through a sandy road, heading back to our camp, in the bush of the Omatako valley.  The sun was setting and the sky was pink-red from the clouds of sand of the Kalahari.

Suddenly on the side of the road we see a small boy, maybe 8 years old, waving his hand to us as if he was hitchhiking.  We stop and we asked him what he was doing out here alone, late in the evening?   He replied: “I would like to work for you!”  😊 😊

Shocked by this statement, we found out that he is from the neighboring village of San and he wanted to stay with us in the camp.  We already had around 40 children staying with us, going to school and sleeping and eating at our facilities.  We took him in the car and drove off.  Over the next few days, he kept very close to me, watching everything I was doing and helping bring some water to the gardens or just hanging around us.  After about 3 days, he said he wanted to go home to see his family.  I drove him there, bringing some food and other items for his family.

Upon reaching his place, we discovered that his mother was lying on the ground in the grass hut, without any power to stand up to greet us.  We first thought she is very sick and we rushed back to the camp and brought our doctor with us to check on her.  She did a thorough examination and she called me aside to say: “This woman has no sickness, she is just dying of hunger, wasting away like a candle at the end of its life”

This statement broke my heart, especially that right after this visit I found out that Tame, the 8 years old boy, wanted to come “work” for us so he can buy some food for his dying mother!  Of course, we started a feeding program for his village and the surrounding villages, but the situation there opened our eyes to the serious problem these people face: extraordinary hunger and thirst.

To drive an 8 years old boy to go away from his family and find work to feed them is an immense feat of courage and survival and I believe this is the reason these people survived for so long in the harshest environment in Africa.

 And think how much food and water we waste in the developed world!

We discover children like Tame all the time, all over the world.  Little children, who should enjoy their childhood without stress or worries, are constantly put in the situation to become the bread winners for their families and this opens up the door for child exploitation, child prostitution and in many cases, pure slavery.

You can stop this, you can be part of an incredible global movement that stands against greed, manipulation and exploitation of these children.  Make the move, become a Pilgrim!