Bienvenidos Padre Fred

This weekend we were busy with several activities related to the return of Father Fred Green, SJ, who founded Colegio Miguel Pro and is beloved throughout Habitat.  He had been in Lima and then in the states for the past several weeks for some medical issues, and returned this Saturday. So on Saturday morning when his flight landed at 6:25 am, there was a large crowd of people from Habitat, including teachers, volunteers, and our neighbors, excited to greet him and welcome him back. I did not get pictures of this event--but it was short as he was then taken back to the Jesuit Residence to rest after his overnight flight.

On Sunday Father Fred said our mass here in the chapel, which was the fullest I have seen it since we got here. After that, there was a dance performance in the plaza, next to the chapel.  One of the volunteers organizes a group of girls for a dance class in the afternoons, so they got to perform--very cute!

 

After the ballet performance we went to the school and had tea, coffee and cake with the teachers and several neighbors. I also did not get a picture of the cake because I had to run back to the house to get matches and then JP was in charge of carrying the cake, but had the camera in his pocket.  Oops!

On Monday, the school had its regular Lunes Civico (Civic Monday), where all the kids line up, there are prayers and information and they play the national anthem and school song.  However they added extra components to welcome Father Fred back.  This time we had the camera, so here are some photos:

 

Here is the general layout of the event--the kids all line up on the right, the podium and speakers are on the left, and today the orchestra is there in their red outfits on the left as well.

 Each grade is expected to line up by class and stay attentive throughout the presentations. This is easier for some than for others, so the teachers play cop and keep an eye on their classes.

Above is the orchestra playing the school song.

By this point, the flag squad has marched the flag down the plaza and ended up on the other side.  Father Fred is saying a few words at the podium although he is a little hard to see in the picture.

Regardless, we are very happy to have Fred back!