This years Christmas party, while more compact than usual (fewer than 200 children invited) nonetheless seemed the happiest in memory. For the first time each school dawned special costumes which they had made and sang their favorite Christmas songs. The competition was fierce but two Miss World contestants had little trouble separating first and second place from
the competing choirs of our shanty schools from the barrios of Trujillo. This year we hosted Christmas parties in our schools throughout Latin America in 13 cities from Panama to Bolivia. Our impact this year has been greater than any previous, and we accomplished this on our smallest budget in awhile. Though not a religious organisation we still must acknowledge the many many answered prayers which has seen our mission through to the end of 2009. We must also acknowledge the tireless work of our wonderful dedicated staff. And our teachers, both our own and those the Ministry of Education are now providing to more and more of our schools. We have unsung heroes in cities we can only get to about twice a year, teachers who implement our programme as strictly and well as any of our headquarters schools - they recruit semi abandoned children and train them up to be exemplary pupils. We are grateful and honoured to be able to participate in this rewarding work.
