First Lady Laura Bush on her Third Africa Tour

Zambian Delicacy
Before lunch, Mrs. Mwanawasa and I are put to work. We assemble care kits and load them onto bicycles, which the caregivers will then ride out into remote neighborhoods to treat their home-based clients. After we bid them farewell, everyone -- caregivers and patients, pastors and government officials, adults and children, Americans and Zambians -- heads into the tent for a festive lunch. On the menu are classic Zambian dishes. We eat pumpkin leaves sauteed with chopped peanuts. Nshima, a coarse maize meal, is a national staple. And we're treated to a real Zambian delicacy: impala stew. The impala is a horned antelope-like animal common in Zambia and prized as a game meat. I'm told that to make the stew, you:

1. Cube and brown the impala meat
2. Place in a pot with bone and water
3. Simmer six hours until liquid reduces
4. Add diced tomatoes and onions
5. Add bacon to flavor
6. Stir, simmer and serve

A Canopy of Red Flowers
After the delicious lunch, we say goodbye to the Mututa Center. On our way to the next stop, I admire the Zambian landscape. Bougainvillea thrives and poinsettias -- the same plants we see everywhere at Christmastime -- grow as trees, forming canopies of their signature red flowers. Roadside signs advertise chickens for sale. Very few roads in Zambia are paved, including the one we're traveling on. The cars in front of us disappear into a cloud of dust.