African Proverb for "Scouter's Own" Service, Wood Badge NE III 188

Se ke oa bula molomo oa noha ho bona meno a eona
“Do not open the mouth of a snake to see its teeth.”
(Do not put yourself in a dangerous place.)

--Sesotho (Lesotho and South Africa) Proverb

In a dangerous world, we need God’s help—not only for protection from outside dangers, but also from our own wrong choices. While I was visiting an elementary school in the Pela-tsoeu Valley of Lesotho, a small black snake slithered out from behind the blackboard, immediately clearing the schoolhouse of screaming children. “Come outside, Ntate, for the snake will surely bite you!” insisted my friend, the headmaster. I hesitated a little, wanting to see if the snake had fangs like the venomous snakes I was familiar with in America. “Ntate, Ntate, come out”, cried the children from the courtyard, “do not put yourself in danger!”

This proverb has taken on a new, urgent meaning in the context of contemporary Africa. Lesotho has the third highest HIV rate in the world; the impact on individuals, families and the whole nation is being felt as adults become too sick to work, and children orphaned to AIDS are left to run households. Considering that more than half Lesotho’s population lives in remote areas in poverty, declining productivity as a result of HIV/AIDS remains a stark threat to the overall survival of the country. Many of my young Basotho friends have already seen the mouth of this dangerous “snake” firsthand.

--WB Scribbler