Our Final Days

With just two more school days before travel, we are wrapping things up, organizing and preparing to travel home.  Packing is so much easier with just clothing and some purchases from the market.  (Come to find out, I am also a good shopper in Africa, so the bags won't be empty!!)  I have mixed feelings about the final days at Kabanana Lifeway Christian Academy.  Of course, I'm overjoyed about the thought of coming home to my family, but the thought of leaving the children and teachers just kills me!  I've grown VERY fond of the Zambian people that we've come to know and love.  Their smiles,  joy, contentment, creativity and determination have made a significant and lasting impression on me.  Friday is sure to be a tearful and hard day as we say our goodbyes and leave the school. 

The American teachers enjoyed a special treat today as several teenage boys gave us a lengthy tour of the school grounds, pointing out every type of plant and tree.  In this group, there is an impressive young man named Jonathan who arrives at school by 6:00a.m. to clean the school grounds and to water the garden.  He would like to be a farmer someday.  (He also bailed us out when our car was stuck on a dirt/pothole covered road last week.)   I am sure he will cross my mind frequently in the years ahead.    There is one special young boy who has stolen my heart named Frances (age 12).  He moved into a new home at Tree of Life on our first weekend in Zambia.  Before coming to Tree of Life, he lived on the streets after his drunk father kicked him out of the house.  His younger sister named Susan (age 8) was prositituted out by his aunt and then kicked out of the house as well.  After talking with his teacher today, I learned that he is very focused and a hard worker.  Frances told me that he would like some books so that he can learn to read.  He LOVES football (soccer) and would like to have his own ball.  (I plan to take some books and a ball with me for our final evening at the Tree of Life on Friday.)  He will surely become a treasure to our family and will be a fixture in my thoughts and prayers in the years ahead.  This will not be the last you hear of him.  Frances and hundreds of precious children will fill my mind and tear at my heart as I return to my charmed life in Texas.  I am hopeful that this will not be my last visit to Zambia.