Just as young Muslims look forward to the end of Ramadan, ours look forward to the Christmas festivities! The pupils are pleased with the moments of joy that come to relax the tension of school and discipline. The holidays offer a time to fraternize: the pupils amongst themselves but also the teachers and the teachers and the pupils. Our pupils include Muslims and Christians of all confessions and the teachers are also mixed, i.e. they are Western and Oriental Christians, Muslims and Jews.
We all celebrated Christmas together. The pupils brought food from home to share a dinner together after having decorated the school hall in the morning with Christmas decorations and the inevitable Christmas tree. After the words of welcome by Fr. Arturo – the headmaster – and a prayer to the Lord, the festivities got under way, gladdened by music performed by the pupils. There were contests of general knowledge, riddles, games with the truth machine; to end up with a draw of lucky numbers that entitled the winners to small gifts.
But the most eagerly awaited moment was… the dance, until 10.00 p.m. This is evidence of the trust that the parents place in the school, because it is very rare that here in Jaffa youngsters can have fun dancing without the presence of their parents. The youngsters’ joy was immense and they went wild!
All the pupils and teachers took part, which was an excellent sign of the sense of belonging to the school. It was a real family celebration. Although different, we all felt united because we are inspired by charity and the spirit of service, which comes from the teachings of St. Francis. In today’s very delicate political situation, it is extremely important to keep these schools of ours, islands of real coexistence and friendship where everyone respects the other as a brother, offering a fine example to the society where we live.
At the end, as an instructive note to be emphasised, the good and responsible pupils cleaned up the hall, leaving it as clean as when they had received it.
Fr. Arturo Vasaturo ofm
We all celebrated Christmas together. The pupils brought food from home to share a dinner together after having decorated the school hall in the morning with Christmas decorations and the inevitable Christmas tree. After the words of welcome by Fr. Arturo – the headmaster – and a prayer to the Lord, the festivities got under way, gladdened by music performed by the pupils. There were contests of general knowledge, riddles, games with the truth machine; to end up with a draw of lucky numbers that entitled the winners to small gifts.
But the most eagerly awaited moment was… the dance, until 10.00 p.m. This is evidence of the trust that the parents place in the school, because it is very rare that here in Jaffa youngsters can have fun dancing without the presence of their parents. The youngsters’ joy was immense and they went wild!
All the pupils and teachers took part, which was an excellent sign of the sense of belonging to the school. It was a real family celebration. Although different, we all felt united because we are inspired by charity and the spirit of service, which comes from the teachings of St. Francis. In today’s very delicate political situation, it is extremely important to keep these schools of ours, islands of real coexistence and friendship where everyone respects the other as a brother, offering a fine example to the society where we live.
At the end, as an instructive note to be emphasised, the good and responsible pupils cleaned up the hall, leaving it as clean as when they had received it.
Fr. Arturo Vasaturo ofm