Celebrating St. Cecilia

We recently had a wonderful celebration here in Chuuk at the school where I am teaching, St. Cecilia. November 22 marks the feast day of St. Cecilia in the Catholic church, which we celebrated with two days of festivities at school.

Beginning two weeks in advance I was notified by the teachers that 8^th period was going to be utilized by the students for “practice.” What practice and why I was not informed of. I am beginning to let go of the need to ask for details and am satisfied to just go with the flow. So practicing commenced and eventually took over the school day. That which was originally reserved for 8^th period spilled over to 7^th,6^th,5^th,4^th and all the way to 3^rd period. This only frustrated me as I watched the learning stop for what seemed to be dance practice going in the classrooms.

When Thursday Nov 22 finally arrived we began the day with mass. Following mass students, faculty and about 200 parents and friends gathered in the school building. The classrooms are lined in one row with walls which can be pushed back to create a meeting space. So we met in what are normally 3 classrooms. Each grade had organized and choreographed their own song, dance, or skit to celebrate the feast. St. Cecilia was the patron saint of music so all of the song was appropriate. Some of my favorite performances were the kindergarteners, dressed traditionally in bright colors, the girls with crowns of flowers on their heads (called maramar) and the boys in thus (wrapped skirts). They were adorable! Pictures will be up soon. The 4^th grade looked great in their high energy hula dance. The female hula dancers never cease to amaze me here. My students had a great time with their dances especially the 6^th graders who were letting me sit in on their rehearsals a few days before St. Cecilia day.

The entertainment led up to the following day in which the school organized a big fundraising carnival to raise money for the school. St. Cecilia is in a significant amount of debt and is often unable to pay the faculty their salaries, so fundraising is imperative for the survival of the school. Each class organized games, items for sale, and entertainment to help raise money. The 8^th graders organized a band which played in their classrooms and since I do not have my own homeroom I spent the day helping out Sr. Rose with the 5^th graders. This meant that I sat in a chair and held the box with the money while contently drinking a coconut most of the morning. Each class put in a lot of effort for this day and the class to make the most money is regarded as the hardest working.

At the end of the day when everyone had left, Sr. Rose, Sr. Sophie and I sat down together to count ALL of the money. Twice. We managed to raise around $3,600 for the school. I was shocked at the amount; this is a country where minimum wage is $1 max. The school has a lot of support from the families who are invested it and they all contributed a lot from the day. All of the work and all of the counting this past week has definitely given me a greater perspective on fundraising and what it takes to keep a school like St. Cecilia functioning financially.

These two days also gave me the opportunity to spend out-of-the-classroom time with my students. I am coming to see this type of interaction as very important, especially due to the language barrier. I was able to laugh and dance with my students, to connect in ways that surpass language. For that, I am very grateful.

Peace,

Caitlin