By Sophie Birkett | Head of Operations
Dear Supporter,
Celebrated on the 1st and 2nd of November is an event that dates back from pre-Columbian times; Day of the Dead, or “Dia de los Muertos”. Although the name is suggestive, and it’s timing very similar, Dia de los Muertos is not at all similar to the celebrations of gory Halloween. It is actually a very special, beautiful ritual, where the living remembers their departed relatives lovingly.
Xcaret Park in Playa del Carmen honors this great tradition by celebrating the Festival of Life and Death Traditions every year on October 30th and 31st and on November 1st and 2nd. Xcaret provides families from all around the world including locals the opportunity to partake in activities exclusive to these days. This includes: the Hanal Pixan ritual (food for the souls), cuisine of the region, workshops, crafts, gifts and altars, visual arts exhibitions, theater, dance and gala concerts. As a large sponsor of development of boys and girls with Save the Children in Quintana Roo, they invited the children from the Ludotecas to come participate and enjoy these activities for themselves absolutely free.
50 children in total from the 2 remaining Ludotecas in Playa del Carmen partook in two dif-ferent activities organized by Xcaret. The first was a march down 5th Avenue, the main tourist strip/ popular spot in Playa del Carmen. Children from the Ludotecas and local schools from all around the city dressed up in white, with their face painted in the traditional style singing and marching to a catchy tune.
The second event took place the very next day where 2 volunteers and staff accompanied 3 parents and 2 ludotecarias and 30 children to the giant Xcaret theme park. The group was split into two and they each went to separate activities in the park. They all had a memorable time, however, the best moment of the day as commented by many was the amazing face painting done to our very own volunteer by 5- year-old Andres.
Because of the little number of supervisors from Save the Children, the staff and volunteers we provided were essential to ensure these activities proceeded as planned for the enjoyment of the children. Thank you for supporting this project and allowing these children to experience all that other children in the region would have been able to.
All the best
GVI Mexico
Links:
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
