This Catholic educational institution run by the School Sisters of Notre Dame, made of the Day an activity that was introspective, informative and celebratory.
The program was prepared as an experiential moment for each group of students and their educators. There was special participation by the school’s Core Pastoral Group in both the organization and facilitation of the activities. Also, there was involvement of the participants in the Ethics Training group that had taken place in May and July 2010, and the presence of representatives of the Porto Alegre and Rio Grande do Sul Children’s Pastoral Services.

The World Day of Prayer and Action activities gathered 130 kindergarten children, 340 grade-schoolers, and 89 junior youth from 5th grade in elementary education, along with their 29 respective educators, for a total of 559 participants from the education community, from the ages of 4 to 11.
Each group of students experienced two different moments. One was methodologically prepared to be an introductory moment during which the children were informed of the nature and origins of the November 20 celebration through exploration of the event logo, focusing on the diversity and multiculturalness of children worldwide.
Next, they were invited to watch a video made by Children´s Pastoral Services. This video sensitized participants regarding the existence of so many other conditions different from their own, as children who can attend a private school. They were shown children with no school, with little health care, with poor housing, and little or no access to cultural activities.
 
Next, each group recounted what they had done during the school year, focusing on their solidary involvement in the lives of other, more disadvantaged children. They were shown pictures of solidarity campaigns that had been carried out by student groups and their teachers, remembering the meaning of each action. This way, the students remembered their experiences and the actions they themselves had done to help other children during 2010, so that everyone felt involved in the Day of Prayer and Action for Children.

The third moment consisted of taking each group of students aside to a different space to raise their prayers to God. This way the children made their prayers by cutting out images from magazines, praying for children to be happy and that they have a family to take care of them and protect them, for children to have a school and receive quality education. They also prayed for so many children who have to work from a tender age, for those that are victims of sexual abuse, for those who are homeless, who have inadequate nutrition, so many who are victims of consumerism and commercial exploitation on television.


Finally, each group of children was invited to recite the Latin American Prayer, which had been synthetized and adapted for the 4 to 7 year-olds.

Report by:
Teresinha Dorigon Vieira – iens
Porto Alegre- Brazil