"Hermanamiento in Action"

AM-Breakfast and morning with host families 12- 7 pm-Creation of alfombras(sawdust carpet) with SJA 7:30 pm-Easter Vigil PM-AM??-Completion of alfombras for Easter Mass The Sister Parish Committees of SJA and TNII hope you can attend as many events during the delegation as possible.

The morning started peacefully enough, but for SJA committee members, remembrances of all night alfombra creation in cold, dark evening light could not be eased. Last year, SJA committee members created an alfombra(sawdust carpet which is a Holy Week tradition in Guatemala as a sign of solidarity with brothers/sisters in TNII) by themselves. Surely, it would be easier this year with our expert guests to help. In the morning, Norma took Paul and Aura to a church and cemetary and observed a funeral of a man who wanted balloons and teddy bears at his passing. Unique! Sandra and Hilda joined Sandra's pen pal from SJA(Julie) for a trip to the Minnesota Zoo. Jackie and Carlos had breakfast with Barry Noack from the third delegation and visited his home. Bernardo and Gregorio went to the Como Conservatory.

At 11 o'clock all convened for another joint committee meeting. More business was discussed and TNII presented St. Joans with a banner that 6 groups had worked to create. The banner is pictured below.Upper left corner by the charismatic group:Pictures the volcanos
Upper middle by youth group:Christ
Upper right by youth group,"Youth on a Journey":Picture of Jesus being taken to the temple by his parents to symbolize their journey
Lower left by Confimands:These youth are helping young kids with their homework
Lower middle by base Christian community:Picture of Mayan relic
Lower right done by adult Christian education group:They drew pictures around their feet
The meeting ended with Spanish songs of brotherhood that TNII had brought with them.
After the meeting and impromptu lunches, it was out into the sunshine for alfombra creation. Some of the delegates also made rings that they presented to SJA friends. Pictured here are Aura and Sandra. Their was music, sun, and alot of sawdust. Aura even found time for some Frisbe action.
The creation of the alfombra went smoother with more hands(see right) on deck. The group started work at about 1 pm and finished at about 10:30 pm. The pictures below show the creation in various stages. Templates were created earlier. A base of sawdust is packed in first. Then fine powdery sawdust is used for the finishing layers. The cardboard templates are used to fill in the patterns of the alfombra using different colors. The sawdust must be sprayed with water continuously to pack it down. When the group finished, protective tarps were laid for overnite storage.

Back toMain Page

Visit Sister Parish Inc. by clicking the below image	Meet the Delegates	Click below image to see Walter and Jackie Arreaza's Guatemala Page
	e-mail the WebRookie