Leaving Zambia

Roberta sent a note about the power outages we experienced the last few nights in Ndola so we were not able to let you know how we were doing.  We enjoyed many candlelight dinners and cooking our food on a brazier outside. I am sitting at the airport in Lusaka and thought I would e-mail some thoughts as I leave Zambia.
I will always remember the friendliness of the people of Zambia, whether walking along the side of the road, smiling and waving when they see the  muzungoos (white people) passing in our minibus, or when they greet you with Mulishani ( How are you?) The reply is bwino (fine). As a sign of respect, they curtsy and hold their forearm with their left hand when they shake. Another common greeting as they get to know you is to hug, once on each side.
Zambians greet each person in a group individually,no matter how large the group. After the church service we attended, we filed out row by row, greeted everyone who left before us and then stood at the end of the line to greet those who followed us.  I would say there were around 150 people that we greeted and greeted us.  I thought this would be a good thing to do at  Sunridge, a  great way to get to know people!
The younger children at Buseko were so cute and very rambunctious - we would just have to enter the room and we would have 3 or 4 climbing over  us.
We were very impressed with the politeness of the older children.  They look out for and help with the younger ones quite willingly.
There are always a few who touch you in a special way. Carl is a 2 year old boy that I sponsor.  He is not able to crawl or walk yet and when we arrived he was not well, just recovering from a bout of TB with some secondary infections. I was able to hold him and he quieted when I sang to him  - Jesus Loves You.  It was heartwarming to see him feeling better by the time we left and be able to coax a little smile from him.
Susan is 7 , although she looks about 4. One day she sat on my lap as we watched a soccer game  and we sang songs.  To hear her singing, There's No One, There's No One like Jesus with such passion - I will never forget. Natalie was able to get her singing this on a short video later.
Aggie is a 12 year old - she helped us with our Bemba words, very patiently and then wrote out several for us. She wants to be a missionary to tell people about God so they will be saved.  She doesn't have any idea about where she will go, but knows God will lead her.
We are homeward bound with a couple of days in Cairo.
Bye for now and God Bless,
Carol