Colours, joy and
community:
Celebrating Easter in Guatemala

“For me, Easter at the Children’s Village means celebrating the resurrection of Jesus. It is a special and wonderful time for us.”

This is what Angel, one of the boys from House 11, wrote to us. He is usual­ly one of the quieter members of the group. But at East­er, he was more exuber­ant than usual. East­er is a very special time in Guatemala, the most impor­tant festi­val in the calen­dar, and this is true for the chil­dren and adults at the Aldea Infan­til, which is run by the Kinderzukun­ft Foun­da­tion. In the run-up to East­er and espe­cial­ly during Holy Week, the whole chil­dren’s village is filled with conta­gious joy, which radi­ates all the way to us in Germany through letters from the spon­sored chil­dren and village manage­ment. It is a joy that we want to share with you in the Valdivia News­room today.

Semana Santa: a living tradition

From Ash Wednes­day onwards, proces­sions wind their way across colour­ful carpets of flow­ers and sawdust in some parts of Guatemala to commem­o­rate the suffer­ing and resur­rec­tion of Jesus Christ. Span­ish mission­ar­ies intro­duced the prac­tice of creat­ing these carpets, known as ‘alfom­bras’, in Central Amer­i­ca, a tradi­tion that is also observed in some of our Catholic parish­es during Corpus Christi cele­bra­tions. The high­light in Guatemala is Holy Week, or ‘Semana Santa’. In 2023, over three million people lined the streets, includ­ing around 130,000 inter­na­tion­al tourists. The cele­bra­tions in Antigua are inter­na­tion­al­ly renowned and are among the most impres­sive in Latin America.

At Aldea Infan­til, the chil­dren embrace this tradi­tion with great enthu­si­asm every year. Togeth­er, they dye the sawdust, design patterns and motifs, and prepare the surfaces on which the carpets will be creat­ed later. For some of the chil­dren, this is their first expe­ri­ence of active­ly partic­i­pat­ing in a centuries-old tradi­tion of their coun­try. Simple mate­ri­als are thus trans­formed into colour­ful patterns and motifs, creat­ing expe­ri­ences that bring the chil­dren together.

A festi­val of colours and joy

‘Think­ing of Jesus and cele­brat­ing togeth­er’ is impor­tant to young Alon­zo, who adds prac­ti­cal­ly: ‘Dyeing the sawdust is what I enjoy most.’ Every­one in the village shares the joy of creat­ing the alfom­bras togeth­er. “What I like best is design­ing the carpets, espe­cial­ly the cross­es,” says Sara. – Sara. ‘The best part is design­ing the patterns and mixing colours togeth­er with my friends. That’s how East­er becomes colour­ful and live­ly here.” – Pedro. ‘We dye the sawdust togeth­er, and every colour has a mean­ing. Doing that with friends and fami­ly makes it some­thing very special.” – Magdalena.

The house moth­ers are also impressed by how enthu­si­as­tic the chil­dren are about creat­ing these ephemer­al works of art. ‘During the prepa­ra­tions, I see how much joy the chil­dren get from dyeing the sawdust and design­ing the carpets. They work togeth­er, laugh a lot, and expe­ri­ence them­selves as a commu­ni­ty. It’s real team­work. The chil­dren support one anoth­er and are proud of what they create togeth­er,” writes Susy Sarg, for exam­ple. Magda Asen­cio agrees: ‘You can feel the sense of togeth­er­ness. The older ones take on respon­si­bil­i­ty, and the younger ones learn with enthusiasm.”

Where the East­er message is still alive

East­er is the time when the Aldea Infan­til’s signif­i­cance for the chil­dren’s devel­op­ment becomes clear. The Chris­t­ian message is embod­ied in the creation of the alfom­bras. As Pedro writes to us: ‘For me, East­er means remem­ber­ing the death and resur­rec­tion of Jesus. It is a time when we stick togeth­er.’ The house moth­er, Lili­bet Santi­zo, adds: ‘For me, remem­ber­ing the cruci­fix­ion is a time of profound grat­i­tude. It is a time to talk about love, self-sacri­fice and hope — values that we want to pass on to the children.’

The chil­dren of Aldea Infan­til also have a message for you… for all of us. When asked what they would say to some­one who has never expe­ri­enced East­er there before, Pedro replies: “I’d say: Come and make a carpet your­self. It’s a wonder­ful expe­ri­ence.” Magdale­na adds: ‘Anyone who has ever made a carpet with us knows just how special this time of year is.’ It’s an invi­ta­tion that we can whole­heart­ed­ly endorse! The Kinderzukun­ft Foun­da­tion is happy to help support­ers get to know the Aldea Infan­til in person, just as Valdivia’s manag­ing direc­tor, Daniel Bauer, did a few years ago.

The colour­ful alfom­bras are fleet­ing, but the children’s expe­ri­ence remains: commu­ni­ty, respon­si­bil­i­ty and the aware­ness of being part of some­thing bigger. Values like these flour­ish in the daily life of the Aldea Infan­til – thanks in part to the people who support and accom­pa­ny the children’s village.

Here’s how you can help in prac­ti­cal terms:

Even rela­tive­ly small amounts can make a big difference.

• €47 provides a child with a school bag, exer­cise books, and writ­ing mate­ri­als – the foun­da­tion for a success­ful start to their education.
• €95 ensures a child has regu­lar hot meals, giving them the ener­gy they need for every school day.
• €245 covers compre­hen­sive support, includ­ing food, school supplies, and medical care. This provides a healthy upbring­ing and real oppor­tu­ni­ties for the future.
• €500 provides long-term support for sever­al chil­dren through educa­tion, nutri­tion and protec­tion, help­ing to secure their future prospects.

Every contri­bu­tion counts. Every contri­bu­tion changes lives.

Stiftung Kinderzukun­ft

Rabenaus­traße 1a
D‑63584 Gründau
Tel.: +49 60 51 48 18 14
Fax: +49 60 51 48 18 10
Email: vera.berding@kinderzukunft.de
Website: www.kinderzukunft.de

Dona­tion account: Commerzbank Hanau
IBAN: DE79 5064 0015 0222 2222 00
BIC: COBADEFFXXX

Please state ‘Valdivia Zukun­ft – Chil­dren’s Village Guatemala’ in the refer­ence field.

Sources:

1. Tourism News from CATA Member Regions, Central Amer­i­ca, Febru­ary 2024.

(Image source: Stiftung Kinderzukunft)