Community Outreach Dance - 3/4/12 Late Afternoon

After church we went to lunch at a very nice, indooor/outdoor restaurant where about 40 of us gathered together.  We had the 14 of us on the trip, plus Brian and Jeanette, as well as many others on the Lutheran mission staff, their families, and other supporters who were in town.  The lunch was served family style and we tried a number of local cuisines.  After lunch, we went back home to change, and around 3:00, we headed out for our community event to be held at the school.

We arrived at the school (which was also our worksite from yesterday), and because the our event wasn't starting for a while, we had a chance to drive up the hill.  The picture above shows a bird's eye view of our worksite.  You can see the basketball court, the teeter totter, and the scaffolding.

We walked around the elevated area, which includes an unfinished house that will eventually become a part of the campus, took some pictures, and enjoyed the view.  Here is a panorama of our view:  Click Here to See the View from on Top of the Hill

Shortly after 4:00 in the afternoon, the locals gathered in front of the school because the word had spread that an "event" was happening.  We set up dozens of chairs in a large circle around the open, gravel-paved area in front of the school, and there you go -- a dance floor!  Our brother and fellow traveler Chuck, who is an experienced square dance caller with his own laptop and music, got the party started right.

Before we knew it, there were about 40 children and 40 adults ready to have a great time!  We started with the basics, the Okey Pokey and the Chicken Dance, and then we moved on to a variety of dances.  All 14 of our group members shed their inhabitions and boogied with the locals.  It was the pure definition of good, clean fun, and you could see smiles all around.

The frame below shows a VIDEO of the dancing:



From the Macarena to the local favorites, we really mixed it up. 

Towards the end, 8 of us got out there and did some "authentic" square dancing in a demonstration called by Chuck, featuring everything from "Doe See Doe" to "Swing Your Partner" to "Bow to Your Corner", the whole 9 yards.

The pictures below were taken throughout the afternoon, as you can see, there were plenty of people enjoying themselves.  Enjoy!