Soccer Balls Part1

3/14/09
So we were leaving Lusaka on our way to Choma and then Livingstone, and we wanted to go buy some soccer balls to give the kids around town and the villages. Needless to say we ended up with a van full of soccer balls. What you fail to realize is that soccer balls in the villages are EVERYTHING. They make their own soccer balls out of trash bags and twine... amazing. As you can see from the picture, if you are outside the van and it drives by you walking on the street (you can see the balls through the windows). There are seriously some kids that can keep up with a van going 20mph, as they run after the van asking for a soccer ball. I ended up throwing a ball out the window to 3 boys running after the van, and they raised their hands in the air triumphantly as they grabbed the ball rolling down the street.
One time, we stopped at a gas station to fill up the van, and four kids came up to the van asking for a ball (they had seen the balls in the van through the windows). So we started handing balls out to the kids, and more and more kids kept showing up out of no where. We stopped handing the balls out, and started giving bags of gummy bears. The joy on their faces were priceless!! FOR A SOCCER BALL!! Johnson kids, soak that in as I am also. As we were pulling away from the station, 5 girls were walking along the road (ages 5 - 13). We asked the driver to slow down, opened the windows, and told the girls to stop... we had "candy" for them. We then handed them these bags of gummy bears, and I remember very vividly the 5 year old girls face. She had straggly hair and big eyes, and a smile to die for. She touched my heart at that moment. No Honey - I did not put her in my bag to bring home, although I did think about it. This I did catch on video (which I would post if I knew how).
I also thought... only in Zambia, could a van full of guys pull up to 5 young girls telling them we have candy for them, and have the girls approach the van with no real suspicion. What has the media and sinful men done to our country. Well enough of that thought. Soccer Balls Part2 will come once we get into the village (Tues - Friday).