October 1 was the national Día de los Niños, the Day of the Children. On this day, we as a community celebrated the presence and the goodness of children not only in San Lucas Tolimán but in all places.

     The school day opened with Mass. All of the children of the Colegio (through sixth grade) attended the liturgy. The students are usually divided into two groups on two different days in order to better fit them into the church, but on this day they all came. They came by the hundreds. Many came with their desk chairs carried on their heads; there was not enough room on the church benches. Kids crowded in from the rear entry up to and throughout the sanctuary. The church seemed to be exploding with giggling, squirming, excited, and beautiful children.

     From the first moment of the first song, I knew this would be a fun Mass. True to form, the children sang at the top of their lungs, hitting volumes and pitches I left behind when I was somewhere around the age of the older students. Throughout the service, they sang all of the school favorites, all in full voice, all with impressive gusto. In his homily, Father John spoke about Jesus, his friendship, his companionship, and his love. At the close of the final song, I thanked God for this experience, for being able to share Mass with these beautiful children.

     After Mass, everyone gathered in the playground for a variety of activities, including a raffle. Before Mass, each of the children had received a slip of paper with a number. Now, they anxiously listened and hoped for their own to be called as numbers were drawn from a bag. The lucky five stepped forward to receive their prizes wrapped in white paper. Nobody knew what was inside, and they remained a mystery to me and to everyone else, since none of the winners opened their prize on the spot. They must have been instructed to wait until they got home.

     The teachers entertained the students (and themselves) with comic skits, clowning, and a bit of poking fun at each other. Following these, they cleared the basketball court for games and contests. There was a balloon-stomping contest, a gunnysack race, and a pony-ride contest using ponies constructed of wooden stick bodies and cardboard heads. In short, the morning was filled with playfully competitive fun.

     When these activities ended, the children received a pasta lunch that several women cooked in a small house next to the play area and then left for home at the usual mid-day time. Although they might not have received much academic instruction, they surely had to have gone home knowing that they had been celebrated, and that was exactly the school’s goal for the morning.

     I spent the afternoon at Casa Feliz, where the kids were preparing their dining room for the evening’s festivities. They decorated the walls and ceilings, as well as several cakes. They practiced for the evening’s entertainment. When we gathered for supper, I asked one young man, Juan, what he did all afternoon. His simple response: "I slept." I suppose naps can be a part of celebrating your day!

     Around half of the Casa Feliz residents and most of the parish volunteers came to the house for the fiesta. After a meal of chicken and potatoes, the activities began. Dino recited part of a local poem. Sandra, Katy, and Doris danced. Santo, Dani, David, and Walter sang. Henri and Mynor led a balloon stomping game. As an impromptu act, a fellow volunteer and I shared a song we learned in college.

     After these actos, everyone received a prize in return for sharing their talent. Then came cake, hot chocolate, and pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey. And, of course, raucous popping of all the balloons decorating the room.

     Día de los Niños was a day of joy and celebration. This community’s children, so full of both keen awareness of their present situations and hope for the future, are very much worth all the celebrating they received.