Sr Maria Merici fcJ writes about the celebration with a group of children of twenty years of FCJ presence in Ende, in the Island of Flores, Indonesia
On 15 November, we gratefully celebrated the 20th anniversary of the FCJ presence in the Ende Archdiocese with a group of children, ages ranged from Kindergarten to Elementary School, totalling about 50 attendees. Three young women who receive a scholarship from us and are in Junior High School also joined the celebration to help accompany the children. We prepared and all wore a paper bracelet as an expression of joy and a symbol of being part of this milestone. We emphasized our presence since 2005 as one of the main reasons we were celebrating in gratitude with them. We performed a special chant (Yel-yel): FCJ, 20 years – where? Ende Lio Sare Pawe! Accompanied by children’s music, we happily sang and moved together, led by one of the sisters. We also reminded them of the names of the current FCJ sisters in Ende and those who have served here previously.
We enlivened the atmosphere with several claps, including one that helped the children remember the FCJ abbreviation in the Indonesian language. We sang a spirited „Happy Birthday” song to express our joy for the day FCJ first arrived in Ende, 26 December 2005. We preserved the memories of this precious event by taking group pictures of everyone.
The celebration concluded with food, of course, and we distributed food to each child to take home. We were truly blessed to have this special celebration with the children and were overjoyed to see them so happy!
