Christmas in Armonía

'I can now see it would be better to do things for others during Christmas to let them know that I love them, and that in that way I express the love that God has for us all.'

Leo arrived in Armonía 4 years ago from the small village of Tepuxtepec in the State of Oaxaca. One of his cousins was an Armonía student for many years while we were in Yalálag, in the southern mountains of Mexico. Leo was 14 years old then and was hoping to study the last three years of secondary school (Senior High). He has one brother who is seventeen years old, their mother lives in their village and comes to Oaxaca City when there is an opportunity for work. Leo's father passed away very tragically a couple of years ago.

Leo has enrolled at University to start on the 7th of January next year. He will study the technical degree of Industrial Processes near Mexico City. He is excited about the prospect of eventually being able to help his village using some of the resources they have, such as fruit and vegetable processing, and make products that can bring a few jobs and income to his homeland.

Yesterday, as we were on our way back from the Students Residence Leo was telling us how he heard about Christmas for the first time when he arrived in Armonía. 'The first time I visited Mexico City for the Christmas celebrations with Armonía, was the first time I really heard about Christmas... I thought our trip was just a treat, a trip so we could see the City for the first time and have parties with my friends. I had heard almost nothing about Christmas in my village and all I thought it was, was a time to decorate different places.'

Leo continued saying that he now realises that there are many people like him that are celebrating in order just to have a party. 'Now I understand that celebrating Christmas allows us to see and try to understand more how much God loves us... I can also now see that the actual celebration invites us to do things with others, but especially, do things for others. This is important because, lets say I go back to my village and just put up more decorations like others do, they wouldn't necessarily understand why I'm doing that. I can now see it would be better to do things for others during Christmas to let them know that I love them, and that in that way I express the love that God has for us all.'

The Armonía students have come back from a week of visiting their families and friends in their villages for the Christmas holiday and are now getting ready to receive their parents at the Student Residence and help with the construction of the second building of their residence. As they prepare to celebrate Christmas together, Leo thinks that in that way parents can also understand what Christmas is about. 'Decorations are nice, we enjoyed dressing up the tree and laying out other ornaments...  if I was to tell someone about what Christmas is I would do a little of what we did yesterday, tell them the stories that the Bible has about Jesus so they know what it was like when He was born. I will also explain what we are doing these days, helping with building the second house for the residence together so more young people like us have a place to live and can continue with their studies.'

Eidi Cruz