One of the main reasons for Marion and I to travel once again to Ayacucho and then Cayara was to attend their Christmas Chocolatada and Panettone festival that was being funded by Sister Anne Carbon and funds from the Sacred Heart community. It also gave the people of Cayara another chance to thank Marion for all her work raising the funds to establish their cuy project.
Anne had spread the word and the whole pueblo had been invited to attend the fun and games. Cayara has a population of about five hundred people.Firstly, her staff had organised games for the children as well as small gifts for everyone.
The proceedings began in a very small way.
However, it did not take long for the word to spread and the numbers grew, especially as the prizes began to flow!
There were many running races, balloon races, a small talent quest and even the odd tug-o-war.
The guests of honour had to hand out the prizes at the end of each event. It was great fun and the smiles told the story. These children had a present for this Christmas! It may have only been a pen, pencil, comb, tooth brush, exercise book or even a lolly pop, but it was their present!At the end of the games everyone was treated to the Chocolatada and Panettone. You know what panettones are but I’ll bet you have not heard of a ‘chocolatada’.
It all starts with the ladies getting organised in the outside kitchen.
Next boil water in three huge pots. All afternoon people kept arriving with one or two sticks of wood supplied from their own wood pile to keep the fires going.
When boiling add packets of piles of cooking chocolate, heaps of sugar and constantly stir.
The final act is to pour in many tins of condensed milk. The end result is a warm, extremely sweet chocolate drink that all ages love.
Young and old brought their mugs, jugs and even small saucepans to collect their drink. Anne had not only organised individual panettones for everyone but she had also collected bags of small loaves of their sweet bread. Most people had ‘seconds’ and some may have had a third drink. One thing is for sure there was nothing left at the end of the day and everyone seemed happy.
On a very sad and reflective note it was obvious to Marion and I that there was almost a total lack of older men present. The older women were all there with the traditional flowers in their hats, but no men. You must remember that this was one of the worst hit areas by terrorism in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s and the men simply ‘disappeared’ – for the want of a better term. It is terribly sad to see these women surviving on their own, knowing what has happened to their husbands, sons and daughters.
However, a number of the women sincerely thanked Anne for all her efforts knowing that this Christmas will be remembered because of the smiles that she brought to the faces of their young children.
