Day Of The Dead Mahahual Primary School

Primary School – Thursday 5th November El dia del los Muertes is a siginificant event in every Mexican’s calendar where they pray for and remember family members and friends who have died. Although Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertes) is officially celebrated on the 2nd November GVI were priviliged to be invited to the local Primary school in Mahahual to judge the shrine’s, or ‘altars de muertos’, that the children had made. When we arrived at the Primary School on Thursday the children were all very excited as they had been busy all week making their shrines (altars de muertos) in their classrooms for this special competition. The shrines featured an array of fruit and vegetables, special tamales, sweet bread’s decorated with bone shapes (pan de muerte), chocolate milk and many other drinks. There were also coloured candles to symbolise any children who had died that year, skulls (calaveras), and a path laid out to help the spirits to find their way. Each classes shrine was different and the children had obviously spent a lot of time and effort decorating them. As part of the competition each class took turns to give an explanation of the symbolism and meaning behind their creations. After much deliberation it was decided that the 5th and 6th graders were the winners, with the 1st grader’s more simple Mayan shrine coming in a close second. I have really enjoyed being part of the TEFL program over the past few weeks and it was a great experience to share this special day with the children as well.