On my first trip to Africa we travelled overland from South Africa to Namibia. During one of our long drives through Namibia we pulled over to a small structure made from branches and twigs.
Everyone on the tour bus wondered what we could be stopping for.

At first there wasn’t a soul around but within seconds two young children ran from their small shack, right over to the stand to invite us to check out their gems. It was a crazy site to see and I couldn’t imagine this being a profitable business as not much traffic came down this dusty road.

As we were checking out their goods, another car was actually driving down the road. You could see it from pretty far away due to all of the dust being kicked up as it got closer. The kids each grabbed a gem, ran to the road and raised their arms to try to show off what they were selling. The people in the car were not interested and kept on driving.

A short while later, their father showed up and took over sales. He told us how they got all of the gems and stones from a mine not far from where we were.

A few people from our tour bought a gem or two to help the family out.
My wife and I still have our gem displayed with other small mementos purchased from our travels around the world!