¡Feliz Navidad!

Christmas Eve dinner with our special guest!

     Merry Christmas!!!!  As you all read before the weeks leading up to Christmas were a whirlwind of activity and the craziness didn't stop there!  Christmas Eve was the final day of Villa Feliz.  After we sent the kids home to their families with their gifts and a full belly, Manny and I went home to change for Christmas dinner.  The sisters have a tradition of inviting a family over for Christmas dinner.  This year they invited a man whose wife died a few years ago and has no family to spend the holiday with.  As Manny and I walked into the chapel for evening prayer, I couldn't help but notice that the man's eyes were a little red and that he had a smile on his face.  After prayer we started serving dinner and he was able to open his Christmas presents.  He had a large smile on his face as he ripped the wrapping paper and saw inside was 2 new dress shirts to wear.  Dinner was wonderful for everyone, and I felt extreme happiness in my heart as we talked because all of us were away from our families, and at a time of the year when it is easy to become lonely, we came together and formed a new family filled with manny blessings.
     After dinner we went to Mass and were able to celebrate the birth of Christ with all of our new friends and family here in Okinawa.  After Mass Manny and I went to work preparing our gifts for communities and cinnamon rolls for breakfast the next morning, another tradition between the missioners and the religious community we live with.  I headed over to our house from the school slightly after midnight to bake the rolls and was surrounded by fireworks coming from every side of the school.  It was absolutely BEAUTIFUL to see how another culture celebrate the birth of our Lord.  We ended our night walking around Okinawa enjoying seeing the celebrations surrounding us.

The truck all loaded with presents!

     The morning of Christmas I sprang out of bed nice and early, around 4:45 and rushed to get ready.  I was so excited for Christmas!  Why was I so excited?  Because Manny and I filled the truck with the gifts we bought and were headed to the communities we visit playing music from the loudspeaker on top of the truck.  When we got to the communities, most people were still sleeping, however all it took was one child to see us and the whole community quickly came to see what the fuss was about.  In these communities the houses are made of dirt, the roofs made of straw, and have one room for a whole family to sleep in.  For most of these kids, the gift we gave them that morning was the only gift they would get that year.  They were so excited and it was amazing to see the smiles on their faces as they were handed a new ball, or a barbie, or a toy car.

 





   

     After we were finished with the communities we rushed to the Hogar (orphanage) in Montero where we have 2 other SLMs.  There are roughly 130 girls at the Hogar.  I played with the girls while we were waiting for Santa (Manny) to arrive.  As soon as Santa came through the door he was surrounded by little girls with HUGE smiles on their faces.  We helped Santa give out Christmas gifts to each girl, watched some of the older girls put on a Nativity play, and heard a choir sing Christmas carols.  Words cannot express how happy I was to be spending some of my Christmas morning with those girls.
     When we left the Hogar, we went with 2 other SLMs and volunteers from their parish to a community not too far outside of Montero.  There we played games, had live music, and talked about the birth of Christ.  At the end of the event, the children received food and a Christmas gift to take home.
     I Skyped my family Christmas night and when my mom asked how Christmas was, I told her it was one of the best of my life.  In the days leading up to Christmas I did miss my family, but I told her if I couldn't be with them for Christmas, then this is how I wanted to spend my day.  What made this day so special is that it wasn't about me at all.  I didn't open up any gifts on Christmas morning, but instead I  helped make this Christmas special for countless children here in Bolivia.  I also spent a lot of time reflecting on the work we did here for Christmas, and I can't get the memory of Christmas dinner out of my head.  How wonderful would it be if every family opened their door on Christmas for someone who was lonely to have someone to spend Christmas with?  You never know how you'll touch someone.

¡Villa Feliz!

This is the majority of my group.  It was hard to get them
all together for a picture.

     Hello all!  I am sorry I haven't written anything in the last month, but it has been pretty busy for many reasons.  The first reason is that the immigration office in Cochabamba lost my passport, so when my new one arrived at the embassy I had to travel about 10 hours away so that the immigration office could pay my fines for not having a visa and could give me another 30 day visa so I could send my paperwork to La Paz for my year-long visa.  That in itself was a long process and took about a week to get straightened out.
     As soon as I  arrived back in Okinawa we jumped right in to preparing for Villa Feliz, which is Christmas camp for the kids and lasted 12 days.  We had to prepare posters, name tags, materials, learn the dance moves to songs, and prepare our materials for our individual groups among other things.  We had about 240 kids total attend camp!

Our nativity scene that the kids made.
I spent a lot of time putting this together
for the presentations.

     My group was the "angelitos" or the "little angels" which means I had about 70 5-6 year olds in my group everyday.  Our day began with the kids arriving between 2:00 and 2:30 followed by songs and an introduction to the symbol of the day.  Many families here say a Novena until Christmas which focuses on a different Nativity symbol every day.  After that the kids went to their Catechism groups (their age determined their groups).  The Catechism at camp went along with these symbols every day.  After Catechism there would be a small recess followed by a few more songs.  Finally the kids went to their workshops.  Their choices were crafts, card making, beading, dance, sports, and angelitos.  Every day one group made a part of the nativity depending on the day's symbol.  By the end of the two weeks we had a star, angel, wise men, animals, shepherds, Mary, Joseph, Jesus, and a manger.  Every day I prepared a craft for my kids to do during our workshop and once the craft was done we would go outside and jump rope, play soccer, draw with chalk, or play a different game.  After workshops the kids were sent home until the next day.  Our days were busy preparing and playing with the kids, but the work was so rewarding when the next day kids from your group would come running with HUGE smiles on their faces to you to give you a big hug.
   The last day of camp each group presented a "gift" to baby Jesus in the form of a song or dance.  After this all of the camp leaders put on a Nativity play (I was a sheep).  At the end of the presentations all the kids received a small gift from Jesus, as well as some Christmas bread, cookies, and chocolate milk.  Camp was a perfect way to spend my days leading up to Christmas!
     The weekend before Christmas, in addition to preparing for Villa Feliz presentations, we also prepared buckets and bags of food for families in Okinawa.  Many families are a part of various programs that give assistance to these families.  For Christmas, all of these families received a bag or a bucket with flour, rice, oil, coco powder, juice, noodles, and a few other necessary food items.  These bags and buckets were handed out in the afternoon while the kids were here for Villa Feliz.

These are the majority of the buckets and bags of food
that were distributed to families for Christmas.

Sor Rosario giving the kids in Children
 their Christmas shoes.

     Many of the children in Okinawa are a part of the sponsorship program Children Incorporated.  As a Christmas gift, all children received new shoes the morning of the 23rd.  Their families also received one of the buckets of food.  If anyone is interested in learning more about Children Incorporated, chick here to go to their website https://childrenincorporated.org.  
     I also had a FABULOUS Christmas, so stay tuned for more on what Christmas for an SLM in Okinawa looks like!

Some of the volunteers during the Nativity play.