Tonight as I was cutting tomatoes for our pasta, my mind traveled back to a highway roadside in Zambia.
"Turn the van around!" I yelled at Jake, begging him to stop the and turn the vehicle that was traveling 120 kilometers per hour on this 2 lane highway. "I think I saw two little girls by themselves selling tomatoes!"
This wasn't an unusual sight. We drove the hour out to Chongwe from the capital city, Lusaka, almost daily for 5 weeks. And along the highway, many women sold tomatoes, fruit, maize - anything they had grown on their land.
But these little girls caught my attention. In a split second as we passed, I knew we had to pull over.
No one else was around the girls, so I knew we wouldn't cause a big stir. After all, anytime a "Mzungu"stopped to buy anything, a huge crowd would gather. People would shove, shouting would fill the air, and everyone would be fighting to give us the best they could offer, all while promising the best price :)
But these girls were alone. Maybe their Mama had sent them to the highway, seeing if they could sell 1 or 2 tomatoes that day. With all the competition from the other small farmers, I wondered if they had even sold any.
Jake turned the car around, wondering what had come over me. "There! See the girls laying on their backs, over there in the grass by their tomato stand?!?"
We pulled the van off the highway and I cautiously got out, not wanting to scare the girls. They sat straight up and shock covered their faces. What was this Mzungu doing stopping at our stand?
Nervously, the girls stood behind their stand. "Can I buy these?" I asked, with no response from the sweet girls who didn't understand my English. Wide eyes stared at me as I picked up two tomatoes and found some Kwacha in my bag.
Once I had given them the money, I reached out to shake their little hands. Huge grins spread across their faces as they finally warmed up to me. No words were said, just looks and smiles exchanged.
Jumping back in the van, I had to get one last picture. I grabbed the camera from Jake and caught a photo of them smiling. They waved and waved to us as we pulled away and I think I left part of my heart right there with them at that tomato stand.
This next week I leave for Zambia again. It'll be my 3rd time on Zambian soil, a place that is fast becoming another "home" to me. What can I say? These babies have my heart and this Mzungu will never been the same :)
