To Livingstone!

Today our team said goodbye to Choma and the wonderful Zambians who we have spent the last two weeks with. Our work is done and everything is now in the hands of those who remain in Choma. We certainly intend to return though, there are many good opportunities for the MED group to get involved.

The papermaking and tie-dye co-op seems very excited about their new business opportunity. They have received training in both the artistic and business aspects of the project. It appears like they have really taken ownership of the project, and two of the leaders were part of Thursday's meeting with the Choma Museum. They were all very excited that Choma Museum has agreed to market their products. We think this market outlet could prove to be very profitable, because at least 10,000 people visit the museum annually. The museum also sells products through their website, http://openentry.com/cmcc/EN/100001.html. The chairman of the co-op, Derek, gave a farewell speech to our group on Friday morning, in which he asked for our continued prayers and support.

We traveled to Livingstone this morning (along with Ron and Erma Herr) where we are staying through Monday morning. Our team spent the whole afternoon at Victoria Falls - it was absolutely beautiful! We were of course amazed by the height of the waterfall, but even more so by its width. I'm still not sure exactly how wide it is, but it was longer than we could see. Of course, we didn't have a clear view because the air was constantly full of mist. I was the only one who didn't bring or rent a rainjacket, and I got thoroughly soaked!

Our team walked to the long bridge that spans the Zambezi river, connecting Zambia and Zimbabwe. After walking over to the Zimbabwe side, and a couple of us walked well into Zimbabwe (until we neared the immigration checkpoint). We met this awesome Zimbabwean named King George who is an actor and musician, who told us many of his neat life stories. We also watched people bungee jumping off the bridge, which was pretty sweet!

On the way back to our lodging, Chris and I were let off in town to look into bus tickets to Botswana (that's going to be tomorrow's little adventure). As we walked back to our lodge, we stopped at a row of craft stalls. By the time we left 1 to 1.5 hours later, we had pulled off the most impressive and fun business deal of our lives. In a nutshell, I traded the very shoes off my feet plus 1,000 K (about 30 cents) for a drum, two wood carvings of traditional Zambian masks, and a Zebra wall hanging! Chris and I worked together to negotiate the deal, and one Zambian craft dealer went home very happy to have a pair of nike tennis shoes from America. The whole bartering process was fun for all of us as we went back and forth trying to work a fair deal. The process was so entertaining that other crafts dealers gathered around to watch! I realized how tender my feet are when I had to walk back from town barefoot...