A Guest column, written by Sofanne Ravensbergen As soon as the first Christmas baubles and Christmas trees appear on the shelves, people in Ghana are also slowly getting into the mood for Christmas. Yes, we are heading towards Christmas! Although the Advent season has yet to begin, preparations for this important celebration have been in full swing at PCC since early November! All readers who have previously experienced a Christmas celebration in PCC will hopefully remember the joy, the love and perhaps also the pleasant temperature as a special memory! The residents and caregivers are wearing the most beautiful clothes, there is plenty of food, and in recent years we have experienced that more and more visitors from inside and outside Ghana come to celebrate Christmas at PCC bringing accompanying gifts, just like the three wise men from the East….! We are very grateful for this, because hopefully this will step by step contribute to greater acceptance of this target group in Ghana. Of course, a good party depends on good preparation, which also applies to PCC. Under the leadership of Joe Emma, our Care Director, a number of caregivers are already busy with weekly ‘Christmas meetings’ to put together the programme for this year. A budget is drawn up for this, which will ultimately have to be approved by the PCC board before the purchases are finally bought.
In addition to these meetings, every year there are new caregivers and children for whom Christmas at PCC will be the first time. They also have to be able to sing along at the top of their voices during Christmas, so that is why all Christmas carols have been practiced since the beginning of November. Every Monday and Thursday you can hear different songs from our Jubilee Square, led by different caregivers. One of the children will regularly attempt to conduct this choir! Even during the week, PCC is regularly filled with ‘Silent Night’ or ‘The Little Drummer Boy’ from the various Day-care programs. Ultimately, these songs will enrich our lessons and prayers during the Christmas celebration. From December onwards there will also be rehearsals for the Christmas play. Who could play baby Jesus or one of the three wise men this year? This way everyone slowly gets into the mood for Christmas, and with such good preparations, it can only be a wonderful Christmas once again. Are you very curious about the Christmas 2023 programme? We’ll keep that a secret! You are very welcome to experience Christmas with us this year. You can stay in one of our beautiful guesthouses during Christmas and celebrate this special period with us. We hope to welcome you to PCC. We wish everyone, everywhere in the world, a lot of fun with their preparations for Christmas and a blessed and peaceful Advent season!