| A school emerges |
Part 2: A school emerges
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Opening
After the completion of the construction process within six months -depending on the size of building plan- done by six bricklayers and a lot of assistants, only the most important thing is missing: the opening ceremony.Why is the opening ceremony so important? It is a very special occasion and a welcomed change from daily life for the villagers. Often the ceremony lasts up to three days. Mostly one day is meant for the different churches in town and another one for the Maya ceremony. At the official day of the opening ceremony, to which representatives of the town and of the education department are invited, the school building officially is handed over by us to the village community. The ceremony is always opened by the entry of the national flag, the national hymn and the oath of allegiance. After that a lot of speeches are held, that often contain the importance of the building, call on the village community to support and maintain it and that appeal to the families to send their children to school, which until now is not normality in Guatemala.
The representatives of the organisation also get the opportunity to thank for the successful cooperation and of course, to convey the best wishes from Germany.
The official opening of the new school
Next is the ceremony of handing over the keys to the highest representative of the community, who passes them on to the principal. But before opening the doors, symbolic ribbons have to be cut into pieces, which are distributed as a memory. Often a tablet of stone sponsored by the village community is fixed to the building, in which all names of the responsible persons, costs and word of thanks are engraved.
The ceremony is closed with a dinner and the long way of a building project is ending. But now a much longer road will follow: education of the minor and mayor villagers.
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