Back to the capital

Farewell to Kabwe. After an early lunch, we got back in the UCZ’s minibus (sticker on the rearview mirror: Don’t rush – Jesus traveled by a donkey) and took the 2 ½ hour drive back to Lusaka. This time the weather was clear and I was awake so I could appreciate the scene along the road and the variety in the countryside. Central District where Kabwe is located is very poor. The people are obviously on a subsistence level and little of the land is developed. In the neighboring district, there are a number of very large, probably industrial, farms and the economic level is a notch higher. There were some newer housing units and some places had flowers in front of the homes and side roads that were kept up well.

After passing a number of small communities that were just a collection of shabby homes along the road, it was clear when we started getting near Lusaka. There began to be buildings and people and cars and trucks and little blue-and-white buses everywhere. The buildings and gardens became bigger and more elegant. And, we rediscovered traffic lights and billboards.
We are housed for our last night in Zambia in a Catholic guest house. The facilities are lovely with manicured landscaping and comfortable rooms. But, the food and service are not the same quality. For that we miss the UCZ’s Diakonia Center in Kabwe.

Since we arrived in Lusaka early in the afternoon, our hosts from the Zambian church offered to drive us to a shopping center that has a traditional African market on the premises. We spend 2 hours browsing and buying in the stalls of beautifully done crafts, jewelry, carvings, and the most splendidly colored cloth items. This shopping trip was the first time I have gotten uncomfortably hot since arriving. Here in Lusaka today it feels like summer.