Dr. Given Kachepa strides confidently into his practice, greeting a 17-year-old patient who’s come in to have her braces tightened.
“Hello. How are you?”
Life in the United States is quite different now for the 29-year-old Kachepa, compared to how it started as an 11-year-old orphan.
From his office, filled with fading family photos and handicrafts from his native Zambia, he reflects on how he first bought in to the allure of the American Dream.
“I came to the United States without a dollar in my pocket,” says Dr. Kachepa. “The only thing I had was hope.”
‘Sing, or we won’t feed you’
Born in a little village called Kalingalinga, Zambia, Kachepa met a man named Keith Grimes in 1998.
Grimes, a pastor from Whitesboro, TX, just outside Dallas, ran a high-profile, faith-based endeavor called TTT: Partners in Education.
He offered Kachepa and 11 other boys, an amazing opportunity. Come to the United States and sing in front of audiences, as part of an a cappella boy’s choir.
In exchange, the young singers would earn money for themselves, and more to send back to their families. They would also receive a U.S. education and help raise funds to build a school back in their village.
Given Kachepa as a child, performing with the choir.
The boys stayed on Grimes’ ranch in Texas, performing at shopping malls, schools and churches across the South.
One budget statement from TTT: Partners in Education, obtained by CNN, showed the organization took in more than $1 million from the performances, sponsorships, and donations, in just one year.
But the boys weren’t going to school, and they weren’t getting paid what was promised. When some of the older boys complained, Kachepa says the organization responded angrily.
“They said if you’re not going to sing, we’re either not going to feed you or we’re going to send you back home to Zambia,” Kachepa says, claiming they were performing as many as three to seven concerts a day, every single day.
Cause for concern
Sandy Shepherd, a former TTT volunteer, grew concerned about what she was witnessing.
“They’d do an elementary school and then they’d have to move to another school they had to do all their set up and all their take down up,” says Shepherd. “They’d been promised they’d get an education and that obviously wasn’t true. They’d been promised some sort of compensation, which they didn’t get any of that, until the labor department got involved.”
Federal investigators, acting on tips from concerned host families and interviews with choir members, eventually raided the ranch and removed the children.
Keith Grimes became the subject of a criminal investigation. But the investigation ended when he died of natural causes in 1999. Two years later, the U.S. Department of Labor ruled TTT: Partners in Education was liable for $966,422.00 in back wages and civil money penalties for the members of the choir.
To date, no choir member has received a penny.
A statement from the Department of Labor to CNN in 2010 said: “The U.S. Treasury was unsuccessful in securing back wages for these employees because the employer had died and his company was bankrupt.”
For her part, Shepherd tried to help many of the boys find foster families, including Kachepa. But when his previous arrangement fell through, she brought him into her family, where he’s been ever since.
The kindness has made a lasting impression on the young Zambian.
“To have a wonderful family take me in and say we’re willing to see you as our son. You may look different, but we’re willing to see you as a son and provide you with all the things you’re going to need to be a success, that was inspiring to me,” says Kachepa. “The only way I could pay them back was by working hard and trying to be the best person I could be, so that when I reach my goal I could provide the same opportunity to someone else.”
Dentist dreams
One of Kachepa’s goals, was to become a dentist. After graduating high school and college, CNN followed Kachepa, the day he enrolled at the dental school, back in 2010.
Given Kachepa at his graduation, with foster parents Sandy and Deetz Shepherd, who are holding photos of Kachepa’s birth parents.
“Dental school was by far the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” says Kachepa. “It really just gives me chills to know I could be a dentist today. Where I grew up in Kalingalinga, there has never been a single dentist. I remember when I was a little boy my aunt had a toothache and the pain was so excruciating, she just kept pacing up and down up. But there was nothing anybody could do to help her. The only thing she could do was just wait until the pain went away.”
On May 27, 2016, Kachepa received his Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from Texas A&M University Baylor College of Dentistry in Dallas.
Dr. Robert Baker became not just a professor, but a mentor, to Kachepa.
“He’d been through a lot and I didn’t know any of that at first,” says Dr. Baker. “He had a lot of walls. He wouldn’t let people get close to him.”
But that changed as Kachepa grew closer to graduating. Those closest to him say they’ve seen a remarkable blossoming in his personality.
“Now that he’s graduated, his self-confidence has just soared and it’s been so much fun to see,” says Shepherd. “I wake up in the morning and I will text him and say ‘good morning, doc. Am I’m really calling you doc?'”
Dr. Kachepa is now starting his own practice in Dallas, with plans to eventually return home to build dental practices in Zambia.
“That’s the way I can give back to the disadvantaged people of the world,” says Kachepa. “God brought me this far, not to let me fail at the end of it.”
(CNN)
Fantastic. I was wondering where these boys where.
Communities in Zambia really need dentists. I hope Kachepa can fulfill that promise to return home. All the best!
@Nubian
why dont you return to Zambia and give back?? the land you say you escaped!!!!
What a breath of fresh air, well done son of Africa.
Superb!!
From #LintonLies to #KachepaLies, either Kachepa is too young to remember or is ignorant that Kalingalinga is not a village but a large township in Lusaka. Further, dentists have always been there, before even Kachepa was born. He will be shocked to come back and see how many clinics, hospitals and specialised dentistry services exist.
You post shows that it’s either you grew in mayard or you are just been
biased.Otherwise if you grew up in the ghetto you would know that finding a dentist aint that easy.I personally remember how most of my family members would agonize with toothaches and the only remedy they would get is a panado.At the clinic there was never a dentist but only a dental-tech who was always either occupied or not available.What Kachepa said about his Auntie validates his story
Kalingalinga is a village by all standards. Where in Kalis will you find a dental clininc? You will have to travel to UTH or to a private practice in the upmarket residential areas to get any form of dental assistance. Have you seen any kid in Kalingalinga with braces on? Kachepa was born in Kalingalinga, so to him that is his village and rightly so too!
Touching story,but I believe he was not alone from Zambia. Kachepa would do well to trace the rest so that they can possibly combine efforts and do something for some children going through similar experiences back home. But then another thing we need to learn as Zambians is to strengthen our families and deepen love for one another. Some of the people being adopted may just be trafficked when we can do something to help and prevent the problem from growing.
I watched a documentary a few years ago. Some of them were used as cheap farm labourers some were sexually abused.
Very touching story well done Kachepa I hope others will learn from this young man that life can change if one focuses on set goals when resources become available.
Ba LT, thought it was written by you guys, please next time cite and reference, your publication properly this is more like copy and paste from cnn.
Kalingalinga is not a village but one of the oldest compounds in zambia. whats wrong with these fake writters. Do your research first. naimwe ba Kachepa. You have forgotten that Kalingalinga ni komboni and not kumunzi. Also Kalingalinga clinic, Mtendere clinic and UNZA clinic where Kalingalinga dwellers go to have never been short of dentists.
Congratulations Dr. Kachepa from getting this far. Why stop here you? You can even go further. Senator or Governor of Texas.
We wonder where there members of that accapella group are. I remember this story.
In future our governments would do well to keep track of any of our children who get offered such “fantastic” opportunities, oftentimes these chances are indeed “too good to be true!”
Bravo to the young man for triumphing over adversity, though like the above comment said, it might be a good idea to find out what happened to the other kids in his choir group…
Congratulations young man, we are proud of you. It is said that only when you have been in the deepest valley can you know how significant it is to be on the highest mountain.
I couldn’t help but notice the allusion that Kalingalinga is a village, like really? That’s the #lintonies that has caught my eye. Good Kachepa found something good in the end.
Africa my Africa why are you always the blunt of thugs, gamblers and modern day slave traders. Zambia watch who is funding the orphanages and what are there motives. Most are typical Grimes benefiting from poor Zambian souls.
Indeed from LintonLies# to KachepaLies# We know many of these young men here in the USA who came from the Kalingalinga community to sing Capella in the USA. All of them have an appreciation for the opportunity to come and have a better privileged shot at life. Of course there was some imperfections with the whole structure as all things can be but nothing to this extent. This KachepaLiar# is just attempting to draw attention to himself. Some of his Peers are even much more accomplished and quietly making significant contributions to the communities they came from.
Kunta kinte man
Good job Man!
Inspiration of hard work, well done LT for this article. Thanks
And his wife awaits him here. I know this boy personally. Come back to your wife and your kids who is now without a father! Your other siblings are destitutes, so before you save the world save your family!
IS THIS TRUE OR ITS KACHEPA STORY ?
true search for the documentary…. some were sexually abused and used as cheap farm labourers
Stay on a little longer young man, get the experience and probably another degree. there is really nothing to rush for back home if your desire is to make a difference when you finally come. It looked impossible but now am sure you are a happy man. Its had to say whether it a result of luck or hard work or indeed both.
Fake story ba LT
Note to self:
-send reporter to Kalingalinga to locate Kachepa’s family.
>Have they stayed in touch with him?
-find out what really happened and how they feel now that he’s a ‘doctor’
-whatever happened to the other guys…