Christmas Drama/Dance

I was invited (thank you Carlos!) to write and direct a drama/dance to a song that Carlos and Emily Romero sang at ASELSI's Christmas party.  Each of the 9 children who participated had a small speaking part (in Spanish).  Half of them acted as a group of children who went to see the others in a Nativity scene.  Then all the characters danced together as the Romeros sang beautifully.   The children repeated their performance 4 times in front of a large crowd of Guatemalan guests each time.  We arrived at 8:00 a.m. and finally finished about 12:30 p.m.  I was proud of the kids' endurance and effort!
    The Christmas party was amazing, and we were blessed to be able to help.  A visiting team from Texas used puppets to sing various Christmas songs, and the gospel was preached in Spanish and in K'iche' as we celebrated the birth of Christ.

I was surprised in the morning when I
woke up and found this scene outside:
the line of guests waiting to enter
ASELSI was already past our house!
There were several fires in the road as
people cooked their breakfasts and warmed
themselves during the cold morning.

There were 768 families, divided into 4 groups. 
About 2000 children received Christmas gifts.

At the beginning of the drama,
I described the Nativity story as
each character came on stage.

We had a mixture of Guatemalan and
American children.  The angel on the
left is our maid's son.

Each family received a bag of rice,
beans, sugar, and salt.

We enjoyed a snack break
between performances!

Carrie was the star of the show!

There are some great videos of the Christmas party at www.youtube.com/aselsiint.
1.  Watch "Christmas Party 2011 Overview" to see a slideshow of the party and the gift give-away.
2.  You can see the kids joining in another song (with me on the floor directing) in the video "ASELSI Christmas Fiesta."  Helping with this song was a last-minute addition.
3.  Plus, you can see the girls and me walking down the street on the way to the party at "John Harvey walks the waiting line."  (Click on "See all" to find it.  We just happened to be caught on video!  I am carrying a green trash bag with angel wings inside.)