A typical Christmas celebration in Switzerland most of the time will probably look as follows: maybe a visit to church, good food, songs performed by the family together, fine baked goods and then the opening of presents...
A Christmas celebration in Mackenzie usually unfolds as follows: maybe a visit to church, if one is lucky enough there is something to eat, maybe even something special, but forget about presents and then it's off to bed because there is no electricity for light.
On occasion of Christmas 2008 we therefore wanted to present some of the students and teachers of the Mackenzie Community School with a special celebration. Eventually, 23 students and four teachers came together for a nice dinner. Before enjoying our food, we sang together, danced, and talked.
The children were overjoyed. At the same time, many of their faces showed their concern and thoughts about their parents, relatives or siblings who did not have the opportunity to join them for this special occasion. Some of them therefore took some of their food and put it in little containers which they had brought along, just so that the family at home indirectly could still participate a little bit in this unique Christmas.
In the end the special Christmas celebration was a resounding success. Each of the kids in attendance was able to experience a little personal Christmas miracle. And for many of us, we realized how many miracles there actually are in every Christmas celebration that we are allowed to experience...
