In February, I spoke with my friend Sr. Meir about her youth group in Quito and if they had plans for Holy Week. That turned into a visit from this youth group to Chontal, to join up with and inspire the youth from Chontal. It had only been about 5 months since there were 4 suicides in the school at Chontal, and the kids had 3 months of vacation with nothing to do. It turned into a magical experience for everyone, as they held a workshop all day on Saturday leading into the Easter vigil, and afterwards a new youth group was born in Chontal (see photo below).
Organizing it was a huge challenge, because there were almost 25 people in total that came from Quito to this village of about 250. Over 25 families volunteered to invite groups of the kids into their homes for breakfasts, lunches, and dinners over the 2 day stay, it was remarkable and a great sense of unity. Everyone was happy with how it turned out, and the youth from Quito were great!
