The Celebration of Life Day is another important activity that you, as a leader, carry out in the Pastoral care for children. On this day, which takes place once a month in the community, families meet with leaders to celebrate pregnant women and children who are doing well and to help each other when they are in trouble.
The location chosen for this celebration must be close to where the families live and be adequate to the reality of the community. It is good that the groups are not too large so that families can feel warmly welcomed, are well accommodated, can talk, and the children have space to play.
Why gather families together in the community?
It is in the family, starting at pregnancy, that the child's needs such as health, food, and affection are met. Therefore, the family needs to have opportunities to receive new knowledge, discuss, reflect, and be valued to define their way of raising and educating their children.
Pregnant women and their partners, in addition to already starting to know about the development and life status of children, should also talk, talk about their needs, find support, and feel that they are part of the followed-up families.
When family members get together to celebrate life, they celebrate the achievements of their pregnant women and children, talk about their difficulties, and can also learn more about the support network they need to find in the place where they live, such as health units, education, and assistance, among others.
On some of these celebration days, you, as leaders, can talk about a subject with the whole group, bring someone to talk about a topic of interest to the families, on others, just have a celebration; and, once every three months, nutritional follow-up will be carried out together with the branch team.
"Only those who dialogue can build bridges and bonds." Pope Francis
How do I prepare for Celebration of Life Day?
The Celebration of Life Day needs to be prepared with lots of love. It is good to count on the help of all leaders, family members, such as mothers, fathers, grandparents, pregnant women, and their partners, to arrange this day together, promoting:
- A warm welcome for children, pregnant women, and their families
- Opening prayer to celebrate the joy of this meeting day that allows children to participate and enjoy
- Introduction of new participants, encouraging them to talk about how they are feeling about pastoral care for children.
- Snack with delicious fruit and, if you like, with other regional foods.
- Set up a place where children can play games and place toys, if any.
- moment of activity with parents/guardians and family members (workshop, lectures, games, etc.).
- opportunity for families to talk to each other.
- survey of mothers and fathers who can and want to help in the next celebration of life.
- Thanks for everyone's presence.
One way of appreciating the knowledge and participation of parents, pregnant women, and family members is to invite them to carry out an activity that they enjoy, such as saying the opening prayer or thanksgiving, bringing a topic for a conversation with other parents, proposing a play for the children, preparing a snack recipe, or bringing some fruits that you have in your backyard.
At the Meeting for Reflection and Evaluation, which takes place at the beginning of the following month, you leaders evaluate how the Celebration of Life went, noting if anything was missing, what went well, and what could be improved in the next celebration of life.
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- e-Acompanhamento Nutricional (AN)
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- 5. Celebração da Vida
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- Celebration of life
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- e-Basic Guide from pregnancy to 2 years old
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- Celebration of Life
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- Celebration of life
- e-Capacitação
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- e-Guide from pregnancy to 6 years old
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- Celebração da Vida
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- Celebration of life