Dancing with Mama Noel
Like every year WAVES was celebrating a Peruvian tradition called Chocolatada. Therefore all the children who took part in programs or supported WAVES were invited to the WAVES house.
To provide shade and protect the ca. 100 guests from the strong sun two big tents had to be set up. To get the party started and to keep it going an animator dressed as Mama Noel introduced the whole WAVES crew: The administration manager Irene, environmental class teacher Sonia, english teacher Junior, volunteer coordinator Pim and the volunteers (Adam and myself).
Apart from short speeches (being thankful for the participation and the support of the last year and announcing the summer program) all the WAVES guys had to dance with Mama Noel which was quite a lot of fun. Everyone had his own style of dancing and obviously the kids liked seeing the « Gringos » dancing. But then the children had to prove their dancing skills throughout several games. For example building a basket tower while dancing but being careful not to bump it over. The winners were rewarded with a Christmas present handed over by us and sometimes also certificates for participating in the different WAVES programs.
We were very surprised how even the two-year-old kids could already move their hips to the beat. So the reason why the people in latin american countries rule the dancefloors is for sure because they know how to dance before they can barely walk.
After the games were over – the highlight of the day – a huge pot filled with hot and really sweet chocolate milk was served.
In the end it was a great event and a lot of fun. Cultural differences were obvious so it was good to be able to ask questions to the local WAVES crew which made the whole experience more informative and interesting.
Written by: Raffael Schmidt a WAVES volunteer
