Christmas and New Year’s Celebrations, part 2
The latest AC ended with the description of a wonderful PCC Christmas Play,
but there were still a lot of other things to do during the days after Christmas. Not for nothing did I write about a 10-day marathon of celebrations and special activities in PCC in AC 1!
The day after Boxing Day was Sunday. After the church service at our rock church there was ample time for Pool Games during the afternoon. It meant a couple of hours of unlimited fun in the pool, for instance there were many balloons in the pool, beach balls to be thrown around, caregivers who needed a “helping” hand for a cool dive, pushing each other’s head under water and so forth. The ultimate goal being, naturally, that everybody would end up in the pool and that we would split our sides with laughter, which was eventually the case! It is Harmattan, of course, the dry season with a very low humidity, so a little cooling down makes it rather more bearable!
The next party took place on Monday afternoon. This time featuring the Kofi Asare Music group and the PCC Choir. The sound and beat of Kofi Asare and his drummers and the beautiful Christmas songs by the PCC Choir kept us all in a pleasant Christmas atmosphere. O come, let us adore Him!
On Tuesday the great sports day took place, always an eventful and lively spectacle, a pleasure to be a witness of. I will soon try and take you along in the vibes of such a day in a special edition of Albert’s Corner. Quite a challenge, because being actually there is really the best!
On the 30th of December a special church service with Father Benneh was planned, but, unfortunately, he fell ill. Unfortunately ….. well ….. Instead of a church service we had a big party with music and dances from the North where many of our caregivers originally come from, the Dagarti’s with Mabel as their front(wo)man. Everyone felt a Dagarti for a while during this evening and enjoyed the very dynamic and diverse dances.
The day after Boxing Day was Sunday. After the church service at our rock church there was ample time for Pool Games during the afternoon. It meant a couple of hours of unlimited fun in the pool, for instance there were many balloons in the pool, beach balls to be thrown around, caregivers who needed a “helping” hand for a cool dive, pushing each other’s head under water and so forth. The ultimate goal being, naturally, that everybody would end up in the pool and that we would split our sides with laughter, which was eventually the case! It is Harmattan, of course, the dry season with a very low humidity, so a little cooling down makes it rather more bearable!
The next party took place on Monday afternoon. This time featuring the Kofi Asare Music group and the PCC Choir. The sound and beat of Kofi Asare and his drummers and the beautiful Christmas songs by the PCC Choir kept us all in a pleasant Christmas atmosphere. O come, let us adore Him!
On Tuesday the great sports day took place, always an eventful and lively spectacle, a pleasure to be a witness of. I will soon try and take you along in the vibes of such a day in a special edition of Albert’s Corner. Quite a challenge, because being actually there is really the best!
On the 30th of December a special church service with Father Benneh was planned, but, unfortunately, he fell ill. Unfortunately ….. well ….. Instead of a church service we had a big party with music and dances from the North where many of our caregivers originally come from, the Dagarti’s with Mabel as their front(wo)man. Everyone felt a Dagarti for a while during this evening and enjoyed the very dynamic and diverse dances.
A word of advice: this next paragraph had better be skipped by members and supporters of the Animal Liberation Front… .
Since 2014 we have had an ever-increasing number of goats and kids in our compound, besides all chickens that have been tripping around for many years. However, because of all those festive meals during Christmas and New Year there are 8 goats and about 20 chickens fewer here….. . It is a pleasure to watch children happily digging in a good piece of meat!
And then it became New Year’s Eve with its traditional Bonfire near the rocks in celebration of the ending of the year. In the previous week the concrete floor had been entirely repaired, a huge job, still it had to been done because the potholes were way too big for all children and wheelchairs to go there.
We waved goodbye to 2015, thankful for the blessings of the past year and happy because for the first time since 2011 not any resident has died ánd we were able to welcome no fewer than 7 new residents!
After a very pleasant evening the fire slowly quenched and everybody went to sleep peacefully to rise the next morning in the new year 2016. Welcome 2016!
On New Year’s Day all children came to the final party of the 10-day Christmas and New Year’s marathon wearing the new clothes they got for Christmas.
By the way, just before the New Year’s celebrations we opened our splendid and new “G8” home officially (but more about that in my next column).
Now there is enough room to welcome new children in PCC, a fine start of the new year. Let’s wait for what 2016 will bring to us all.
Finally: a Happy New Year to all of our loyal readers!