Dia de Independencia

After months of practice, the big day was finally here! Children from The Jungle School traveled by bus to nearby town San Andres on September 15, 2011, in order to participate in the Independence Day parade. Together with other schools, the children marched down the streets debuting their new school and band uniforms and performing for the crowds of onlookers and supporters. Leading The Jungle School’s portion of the parade were three high school boys carrying the school’s banner, followed by six young girls wearing pageant dresses and sashes they had received throughout the week of activities at the school. Next came the display of flags of the nations carried by many students, the baton girls, and three girls dressed in traditional Mayan clothing. The band was close behind, stopping to give the crowd several performances, and children from the school organized by class and grade marched behind the band with pride. At the end of the parade, all of the schools gathered together in honor of their civic duties, and then came the highlight of the event as each school gave one grand performance. All of the hard work paid off, as the children from The Jungle School looked and sounded great!

The girls from the band spent the night at the school the night before the parade, and I was one of the lucky missionaries selected to chaperone them...haha! Teenage girls in Guatemala are like teenage girls anywhere... they talked and laughed and giggled well after we turned the lights out. We got up at 3 a.m., yes, 3 a.m., to make sure all of the girls were showered and to give time to complete make-up and this beautiful hairstyle on each girl. My crafty roommate Nineth made matching earrings for them as well!

Beautiful Albertina and her new band costume that her sponsor helped her to afford.

Marching in the streets...

& the big performance!

Culturally, it was exciting to watch the kids perform their civic duties. There was a flag processional, and I heard Guatemala's Pledge of Allegiance and the National Anthem for the first time. But the best part was really just getting to spend a day of fun with the kids. This is the first year The Jungle School has had a band and they were so proud of what they'd been able to accomplish!