Day 6 - ISC IMMERSION RETREAT

Zambia artists performing some of the native tribal dances.

On Friday day 6 of the retreat we decided to mostly stay at the retreat center. It was the day after Zambia's presidential elections and there was possibility of some unrest throughout the country when election results were released. We were going to visit a compound in the morning, but received word that there was trouble brewing in the compound and it may not be safe to visit. Zambia is mostly a peaceful country...it is one of the few African countries that has not had civil war. However, because of the continuous decline of the country and corruption in the government many people were hoping for change and had a lot invested in this election. Luckily, there were no major outbreaks of violence.

We did venture out on Friday evening to watch some dancers perform native tribal dances. Two members of the dance troupe were Darius and Raphael...the two young men whose homes we visited in one of the compounds on day 1. They were scheduled to come to ISC to perform personally for us, but because we were a small group we chose to go see them perform at a Lusaka hotel. It turned out to be a profound experience for us to go and see them perform at a very fancy hotel. We had visited their homes and saw where they lived and we realized that we were watching the performance with different eyes than the rest of the audience. The performance took place during a very nice meal where you could eat as much as you wanted. The hotel environment was beautiful...and we knew what the performers were going home to after they finished dancing. The contrast was heartbreaking.

Photo of the compound where the dancers returned following their performance.