Little Christmas Miracles ... This is a Must See!

Being in Brazil this Christmas has shown me and Jonathan more about the different cultures around the world than I think we imagined it would. Of course, there is difficulty everywhere, but coming from the United States to Brazil can show a person just how much we sometimes take for granted. Don't get me wrong, there isn't necessarily fault in this - if you have never been anywhere else, how do you know what you have? I am hoping this post will portray the happiness that is felt through the smallest things in life, and show us all how blessed we truly are.

Jonathan and I have spent a little time with Kenia and Brad, a couple that lives in our building. Kenia is from Brazil, and Brad is from Canada (he was very thankful for English speaking folks to move into the building ;) ). Kenia volunteers at Casa do Menor Nova Canaa, a nonprofit program/extra school for children from ages 5 to 13. She asked me if I would like to join her in giving presents to the children when Santa Claus visited the school - I immediately said yes.

Casa do Menor provides these kids with things they aren't necessarily able to get at home. Stability, an afternoon meal, dental services, extra schooling in each subject, a computer lab, etc. Every day, each child goes to his or her normal school, and then goes to Casa do Menor Nova Canaa.

To give you a little insight on the type of children that attend this school, it is mainly for those who are poor and/or have a very difficult home life. There is no one 'type' of child in attendance. We were told the unfortunate story of how a few of them would put meat in their pockets to bring home to their younger brothers and sisters who weren't yet old enough to attend Casa do Menor. For some of them, the meal they eat at Casa do Menor is the only one they receive. Many of the children's parents work multiple jobs and are not able to be home at night to cook.

In order to raise money for the school, the women that volunteer make items to sell at auctions. They were kind enough to show me a few things:

A knit bag for your swimsuit when it is wet :)

After speaking with these women, Kenia took me inside the school:



Computer lab for the kids

 

The dental room

Kenia shared with me that there are five prominent dentists in Uberlandia that volunteer at the school three to four days a week to make sure the children are receiving check-ups and their teeth are coming in properly.
After my tour of the school area, Kenia took me to where the children were playing and where Santa was going to be coming.

Before we could even get underneath the canopy, the children came rushing over, immediately asking questions: Who are you? Where are you from? Do you have a boyfriend? Ha ha!


Me and a few of the kids

There are about 150 children that attend this school, and a few of them were definitely camera lovers, so they stuck with me for most of the day :) :

Aren't they just adorable? Right after I finished snapping these, I saw the face of an angel! This little one, Pedro, was one of my favorites:



He's just beautiful!

In the play area, the volunteers have provided the children with a trampoline, a moon walk and a fooseball table.

Before Santa arrived, the children wanted me to snap a few more pictures; and I, of course, had no objections:

The part that just really tugs at my heart ... these little ones are so happy, and they really have nothing. All of the people that volunteer here live for these kids, in the hopes of giving them a better life. If that's not Christmas, I really don't know what is :).

It took me awhile to finally get a picture of my favorite volunteer (these kids LOVE to move around, I wish I had their energy!) and the person that made this experience possible for me, Miss Kenia:



Kenia with the kiddos

The next thing we know, here comes Santa Claus! The kids were on him before he even reached the building!

I can't imagine how hot Santa must have been. Wearing that suit in Brazil .... thank goodness there was a fan for him:

Santa and his fan

Once everyone was settled, the children told a Christmas story and sang Christmas songs, and then it was time for presents. These kids were so thankful for each gift they received. For some of them, this will be their only Christmas gifts:



I just love her!

One of the men that makes this all possible for them is Jaime. He cooks for the children every day, and when you hear him talk about the school and wanting to help these kids as much as he can, it is evident that every word is coming straight from his heart:


Jaime with a few of the kids

 

The woman in the picture above is one of the volunteers at the school. Her daughter sponsors the little girl she is standing with, so she is the one who bought her these precious Christmas gifts.

This little man was my boyfriend before the end of the day:

It was so hot that day!

After all of the gifts were distributed and the children went back to playing, Kenia and I were about to head home. But first, I wanted a group shot with some of the kids in front of the Christmas tree. Remember how I said they like to move around? Well, here's the proof! Our attempt at a group shot:

They are definitely quite the little posers! After seven attempts at it, we assumed at least one of them would work ... but when I got home and looked through all of the pictures, I just couldn't resist putting every single one of them up here!

Such a wonderful and humbling experience.

A few days later, Enio (a sales rep Jonathan works with) asked us if we would like to go to his church with him on Saturday night. We were excited about this because one of the things I wanted to do before leaving Brazil was attend a church here.

Enio's church is wonderfully quiant. It is tiny, probably one of the smallest ones we have ever been in. Enio told us the story of how the church was created, and it quickly became apparent to us that this small group of people was responsible for every single dime that went into its creation.

We were lucky enough to attend the church on the night of its Christmas program. One of the women that attends the church, Lilia, is from Jamaica and married an American - so, she spoke perfect English! She sat with us and translated the entire sermon for us.

The night began with the choir singing to the band, in which Enio plays electric guitar:

Enio is on the far left (back)

The man sitting closest to the camera is sitting on his 'drum' (I cannot remember the proper name for this). The church couldn't affort to buy a drumset, so they built this instrument for him (and the man knows what he is doing, which you will see in just a few moments!).

The church choir

The group proceeded to tell the story of the Birth of Jesus, and the props that were used for each scene were all hand drawn and painted:

Next, the children all lined up to sing for the audience. While the children sang, the pastor played guitar:

Lilia, the woman that was sitting next to us, teaches English at the university here. She has also been working with a group of people at the church on singing a few songs in English, and THAT is when they graced us with "Silent Night" in English! It was great.

After the program and sermon ended, we were all standing around talking, and Enio had mentioned to a few of the guys that Jonathan can sing and play the guitar. They had been begging him to play for most of the night, but he kept saying, "I have no idea what you are talking about. I am not any good." HOGWASH! After a little sweet-talking, I was able to get him to participate with the guys. It was truly, truly a great thing to watch ... which is why I am SO glad that I got it on VIDEO! The volume is a little shaky at times due to the echo and amp being a little too loud. (Watch them both :)):

The honesty and rawness of playing with these guys ... maybe you just had to be in the room, but I really don't think Jonathan could ever repeat this type of experience again - me neither, for that matter. When Jonathan started playing 'Hotel California', it was amazing (and quite funny) to see all of these Portuguese-speaking people start singing the words to the song! They were all so happy and thankful that he played; a few of them were literally tipping their hats at him to the end of the night.

These small things ... probably two of the best days we have had in Brazil.

To our families:

My how we miss you so! As difficult as it is to be away from you during this time of year, please know that you are in our thoughts every single day. Even though we are wishing we were with you, we can't say that we aren't enjoying this gift God has given us.

We are headed to the beaches of Ubatuba, Brazil, next week to celebrate New Year's with Mariana and her family. We will definitely be blogging about that experience!

Merry Christmas, everyone :).