Many families in Botswana live day by day with no financial ability to stock up, or save for a rainy day. This lockdown is hitting them very hard and the food in many houses is literally gone with no money to buy more. Even with money, you must have a permit to go shopping right now which is very difficult to get for many. The need is urgent, and we are uniquely able to assist. Our relationship based discipleship has given us God ordained favor with the right people and several of our church members have been granted a special movement permit to buy, and deliver food to the needy. We are providing basic kits to families of 6 to 10 to feed them for 2 weeks at a time. These basic kits cost about 10 USD and include soup packets, sorgum, pap, beans, toilet paper, matches, oil, flour and sugar etc. These are the local staples people are familiar with and that keep the people fed for cheap and the kits include only the basic essentials. We are hopeful that the Government of Botswana will be able to ramp up their plans to help the hungry quickly, but the need is now, and there are always those who fall through the cracks.
Working with the government and social workers, Jason and Emanuel are currently delivering about 15 to 20 food kits per day and would like to up that to 25 a day and continue for the next 30 to 40 days. We are planning this to be a short term effort to sustain the people during this exceptionally difficult time. This is a team effort with other missionaries and locals contributing time and money and as such, we have enough funds for another 10 days but we are asking for help to be able to continue helping where we can for an additional 20 to 30 days. This is a difficult financial time for everyone, and the future is uncertain for all, so I know this is a big ask, but if you are willing to assist, we could use some financial support for this one. There are links on the page for both Tithely, and Paypal and any money donated through either one will get to us within a day or two and 100% will go to food for the hungry. If you want the tax deduction though, please send a check to the church, (information below).
Further information: This is the long version for those who want to know more and are so bored with lockdown that they actually have time and desire to read a longer post. :)
Last I heard, there were 23 cases of Covid 19 in Botswana. We are currently under a lockdown since April 2nd which was originally intended for 28 days, but we are hearing will be extended for another 3 weeks, nothing is certain. Our family is doing great! Spending far too much time watching movies, eating, and being otherwise lazy, but so are you, so please don't judge! :) All of my outreaches and ministry events have been completely cancelled and we can't go off the property without a permit. We are using this time to focus on our children's education. The founders of the school are good friends, so we have access to all the curriculum and are homeschooling our kids but using the same books and lesson plans that they would get in school. I confess, I'm terrible at homeschooling! Because South Africa got hit first and cases were slow to arrive in Botswana, we had ample time to stock up on food and other essentials to carry us for a good long while. We are in no danger and because we live next to the mission school, we even have access to the pool (though it's getting a little cold for swimming) and the archery range. Our kids like to shoot. We are blessed to have large open areas for us to venture out and not be cooped up inside. Our concern at this point is not for us, but rather for the local Botswana people that we minister to. Many familes in Botswana live day to day. They rely on the income from todays job, in order to feed the family today. This is a generalization of course. There are many who get monthly checks from a job at the grocery store, gas station, etc. The lockdown has severely impacted all of them. In order to even go grocery shopping at the store within walking distance, you have to have a day permit. If you are blessed enough to have a cell phone, you can potentially get this permit online or through a text, but Sarah and I were unable to get one when we tried so it's not easy or reliable. The police and the military are doing random stops and charging people very stiff fines for being out without a permit. It's all being done in the name of protecting people from sickness and I respect that, but now consider those I mentioned above who rely on money from today's job (which they can't get) in order to feed the family today. For those who get monthly checks from a job, they are also given snacks and tea at work and their kids are normally fed very well at school which allows for the small salary from a job like a supermarket teller to sustain the family the whole month. Now the kids are home all day and the same food is not lasting the whole month even for the essential workers who are getting a check. We have been on lockdown now for 23 days and in many local homes, the food and the money, is simply finished! Last week, the calls and cries for help started to come in. Members of the Word to Africa team began right away to purchase food, cut firewood, and raid our own pantries to help. We had a breakthrough when Jason and Emanuel managed to get a special 2 day permit to deliver food to those in need. Since then, they have had to go back in regularly to get more permits, and despite having to wait many hours to get them, they have been granted favor to continue getting permission, but each time, it's just for 2 days . Leveraging our relationships with the youth in Lobatse, and the social workers, we have been able to identify those who are truely in need and the nature of the need. In some cases there is a family member who is HIV positive and therefore needs a diet higher in protein. Kits for those families often contain more beans, fruits and veg. We managed to hunt a kudu (very large antelope) before the lockdown which I have kept frozen at my house and we are slowly giving out in special kits as needed. Each day, kits are being delivered which sustains those families for 2 weeks, but new requests come in from more families that have run out. Word is slowly spreading that we are helping, and the need is slowly growing as more people run out of supplies.
We always try to work along side the government and the social workers are telling us that relief food from the government is coming soon, but it's taking time to roll out. Also, many will not qualify. Our goal is help as many families as we can to hold out until either the relief from the government comes, or the lockdown lifts. Once the lock down lifts, we will probably continue to help with food for a week or so until those who go back to work are able to get the first paycheck and get back on their own feet. I had hoped to help with my own garden, but a plague of armored crickets destroyed most of it and all my chickens and turkeys either died of disease or were taken by the neighbors dogs. O Well. The Garden is starting to come back and I hope to have lettuce and tomatoes to harvest and donate in 10 days or so.
A few of us got together about a week and half ago and discussed how we could go about helping. We have a church member who runs a mill for Pap. Pap is a local corn based meal that you just add water with a little oil and salt and boil. Once cooked it looks like mashed potatoes and it has little taste, but it takes on the flavor of what ever you put with it. Usually we make a soup packet for flavor. Since he is our church member he is giving us a special deal on the price so we are able to get large quantities for cheap and support his business as well. We have other connections that are allowing us to get food at very low prices. That's why we are able to provide enough food to feed a family of 10 for about 2 weeks for only 10 USD. It also helps that the exchange rate from the dollar to the Pula is very favorable right now.
Without permits, Sarah and I are unable to do deliveries personally, so we are playing a support roll and helping any way we can. We really feel that this is our time as the church to shine. As others are hording and looking out for themselves first, we want to be among those who overcome fear and uncertainty and reach out a helping hand in a time of great need. If you want to help, any amount will make a difference. Please give as you are lead of the Lord to do so.
God bless you and keep you.
The Witt Family.
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