Need a ride?

The roof is underway! Today, Luke and I went out to supervise the installation of the roof for our new and improved Nsaka (or meeting place). We hope to have both sides finished by the end of next week.



But that's not why I am writing this post. I wanted to give a little insight into rural culture in Zambia. Whereas in the States, you would have to be brave to hitch a ride, here it is a different story. Many times, as we are traveling up and down the road to our ministry center (which is about 6 miles long), we pass children and adults who are looking for rides. And here, they don't hitch rides by sticking out their thumbs. Instead, they hold out one arm and wave it up and down.

Today, as school was let out, 8 children were standing on the side of the road trying to catch a ride. Most of these children were staying at a group orphanage for street kids called Kakabalika and needed to get back. Luke only had 2 open seats. So, when he pulled over, my thought was how are we going to decide which ones to take. But as you can see in the picture, we didn't have to choose. We squeezed and twisted them and managed to get all 8 piled into the vehicle.

There was really nothing special about the moment. But I just thought it would give insight into a part of the culture here in Zambia that you normally wouldn't hear about.