Today is the last day of the Easter holiday and Easter activities. The church is well-filled. “Vive Jesus, resucitado”, Live the risen Jesus.
The procession enters. First two children dressed up as angels and seated on a platform carried in by men. Then the statue of the risen Jesus, also carried by men, followed by the statue of Maria Magdalena carried by women. This is the Maria who according to the Bible had been looking for Jesus in the garden of the tomb and found him there. To symbolize this, the statues of Jesus and Maria enter the church together and are placed side by side on the stage. The mass can start.
Tradition
Chocolate Easter eggs are not part of the Easter tradition in Nicaragua, nor can you find Easter bread and other delicacies in the shops, at least not in Juigalpa. Easter is not celebrated through food and decorations. But if you know the customs of the people you will know that it is Easter because there is a big supply of small plastic paddle pools for small children, which mainly appear on the market at this time of the year.
Easter is noticed through the silence in the streets, because many people enjoy leaving town for the day, preferably near the water of swimming pools, rivers, or, for those who can afford it, the sea. For those who stay at home the plastic paddle pool is the only option.
Schools close for a whole week for Easter, but working people are only off on Thursdays and Fridays. Easter Monday is also a day-off which means that people do not need to travel back home on Easter Day.
Life
The Ruach community does not yet have traditions, although the annual retreat during the Holy Week before Easter for Ruach Board Members and its employees led by a Jesuit priest is becoming a fixture on our calendar, and so is our custom of starting a working day with a contemplation before the staff meeting to discuss the activities for that day. Easter means that the ‘good’ will overcome, a celebration of liberation and New Life.
The Easter message takes on even more meaning because of our assessment of how Daniel and Loyda have developed after six months in the community. Both were heavily under-stimulated and entered the community very introverted and apathetic. What we now observe, among other things, is:
Daniel:
- Responds to visitors and makes eye contact (60%)
- Collaborates 40% of the time with games designed to increase activity, such as taking a transparent lid of a container in order to get a biscuit.
- Enjoys motor skill exercises, even if it is for 10 minutes only
Loyda:
- No longer sucks on her clothes
- Rarely wets her bed
- Sits more often (80%) on a chair rather than on the floor, where she was looking for crumbs
- Appreciates more physical contact and enjoys massages on her arms and hands
- Responds to the mentioning of her name (50%)
Our attention, care and love help Loyda and Daniel to live a more humanly dignified life, something we are grateful for. The progress they make is in minor victories, the power of Life in action. These are signs of ‘easter’ with a small ‘e’.