The missionaries who ventured into the semi-desert regions of South Africa’s Northern Cape were of hardy, pioneering stock from major European capitals who survived incredible hardships in this great thirstland. The stories of these missionaries, who include the renowned Robert Moffat and David Livingstone amongst their ranks, unfold against a harsh, dry landscape of rugged beauty. They were doctors, engineers, carpenters and farmers who not only shared their skills with the locals but accomplished great feats such as building a cathedral with nothing more than a pictures as a guide, turned desert regions into fertile agricultural areas through innovative irrigation schemes, translated the bible into Tswana and shaped the minds of men who became great leaders such as Sol Plaatjie, writer and founder of the African National Congress.
