Regional Retreat

We've just returned from our MCC Southern Africa Regional Retreat. It was held just outside Lusaka, at a place called "Pioneer Camp", which (unlike the Canadian Pioneer Camp) is a guest lodge. We had MCCers come from Mozambique, Swaziland, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Zambia.

It's very interesting learning about MCC work in this part of the world. MCC is doing all sorts of things, everything from drilling wells by hand and building sand dams to working with HIV/AIDS support groups, education, and agricultural development. MCC has a special emphasis on working with local partners, so a lot of the work is at a very grass roots level. Perhaps the most interesting part of the retreat was hearing first hand about the situation in Zimbabwe. Needless to say, it's very difficult for everyone but especially for the poor. Runaway inflation has destroyed the economy, and now starvation is a very real possibility for most of the population. Meanwhile, there are groups of people who are benefiting from the chaos and are amassing great wealth. It's a place where there is a great cry for justice, please remember the people of Zimbabwe in your prayers.

It's also great getting to know the MCCers themselves. The stories about how people got involved in MCC in the first place are interesting and uplifting. One of the nice aspects of the retreat is that local MCC employees also attended, and they had all sorts of interesting stories to tell as well.

The entire Southern Africa MCC Team

The MCC Zambia Team

We also had an opportunity to have a bunch of fun together. One day we all went to Zambia's only water slide park for a slide and a picnic.

The traditional "talent show" was a big hit with many laughs.

The Limbo contest was one of the less serious moments of the retreat

The 5K fun run was held on a nice hot and steamy afternoon with the sun coming out to make the country side look like a shimmering emerald. Even the kids completed the run!

Finally, a big Christmas dinner and a time of reflection and sharing was a wonderful way to end our time together. Being part of a team has been a big positive part of our MCC experience, and retreats like this are a big and memorable part of team building.