Christmas dinner

Every vacation at the College, some students stay with us to help maintain the gardens, care for the animals and repair the dorms. Sister Jean bought food for the students to make a Christmas Day meal. Roasted chicken, potatoes, sweet potatoes, sweet plantains, and salad. Yum!





In the evening, Sister Helena and her nephew Sean came from Coroico to have dinner with Sister Jean, Sister Carmen and myself. Dessert was King Kong, a special cake that Carmen brought from Peru.

Christmas in Carmen Pampa

The Midnight Mass in Carmen Pampa is a sight to behold. Every year, women from the community teach the children a dance -- and this year it was a dance of angels.










I don't know what happened to my camera, but the effect is kinda cool.

Felicidades, Fico

Federico Carrizales has been in Carmen Pampa for much of his life. After being orphaned, he and his sisters were taken in by Sister Damon to finish high school in Carmen Pampa. Federico's sister Cecilia, and later his other sister Claudia, came to the College and graduated; with a final push from Sister Chris, Federico's graduation marks the fulfiling of a promise made to Sister Damon: graduate and contribute.

And contribue he does: Federico runs the College's hog farm. Doctor Federico is leading the transition from production of hogs for the meat processing plant to production of piglets and sows for farmer groups that will produce hogs for the plant.

Federico graduated mid-December. We expect his wife Dani (center) to graduate in February.

Advent

Today we had an Advent service with all of the departments at the College. Our Director Father Freddy gave a short presentation about the liturgical focus of each of the four weeks, and Sister Marleny lead us in a reflection interspersed with singing.


The reflection focused on preparing your heart for Christmas. How can better put into practice our love for our brothers and sisters in the world? How can we better serve our students who have entrusted in us their future, their hopes?



At the end, we each lit a candle and each asked for a gift from the Holy Spirit during this time of preparation: patience, understanding, peace, forgiveness.