¡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.