Supplements

archived ISSUE

'keeping the change' will pave way for education in two cultures

Story and photos by LIZ QUIRIN
Messenger editor

People at Immaculate Conception Parish in Columbia stepped up to the table full of Easter treats after a recent liturgy. They were purchasing the candy support the parish’s religious education program.

Students in the program are raising money to finish paying for the education of two young men in Guatemala. Program director, Janet Janson and her team learned that the young men had lost their sponsors at Christian Foundation for Children and Aging (CFCA), but the foundation was continuing to support the teens who were close to finishing school.

The team decided they wanted to help, and in the process, they learned and are teaching their students about a custom in Guatemala practiced on Good Friday. A carpet (al fombra) is made on the streets of a city or village with colored sawdust, seeds or flower petals, and the Way of the Cross travels along these streets. A statue is carried through the streets, and each time the bearers come to an al fombra, they stop and rest.

During these days before Easter, the Immaculate Conception students are making their own al fombra and will put it together for their own walk. Seventh-graders made pieces of their al fombra with help from their teachers who died salt for students to glue onto outlines of a chalice.
After finishing their designs students talked about the Eucharist. “This seems very appropriate,” one of the teachers said.
Janet Janson said she is overwhelmed by the teachers’ and parish’s response to the project. Several parishioners have visited Immaculate Conception’s sister parish in Guatemala and some parishioners also have sponsored children through CFCA.

“Keeping the change” will give two young men the opportunity to finish school and knowing they had a hand in giving others a chance at a brighter future may “make a change” in the lives of young people at Immaculate Conception.
Students will walk along their own al fombra March 30 during their class time.