3575_Easter Fair for the Children at Lang Biang Parish, Viet Nam

By Peter Pham Van Chinh

In the afternoon of April 5, Easter Sunday, the Salesians of Don Bosco organized an Easter Fair for the children at Lang Biang Parish as part of their celebration of the two hundred years of the birth of Don Bosco.

The were around 600 children from the Parish along with 80 ethnic boarders of the Congregation of Khiet Tam Lovers of Cross in Da Lat City.

In order to have this wonderful day of fair for the children, the Salesians in the Post Novitiate Community with the cooperation of the aspirants, the Salesian cooperators and also some students from different universities of Da Lat City. This also became possible through the financial support coming from generous benefactors.

The Eucharistic Celebration, presided by Fr. Thomas Vu Kim Long, SDB, Rector of the Post Novitiate Community, marked the beginning of the celebration. Among those who concelebrated with him were the parish priest of Lang Biang and another priest coming from the Congregation of Divine Word.

At once after the Holy Mass, the children were divided into different groups for competitions and for playing different games so that they could win tickets which they could exchange for food. With these tickets they, too, they could go to the "shopping center" of the fair to buy different things they wanted especially school supplies.

After the games, they had dinner together, and then in the evening they participated in the cultural night featuring different meaningful items performed by different groups.

The day ended at 9:00 in the evening. The parish priest thanked the Salesians and all those who helped to organize this special day for the children, who were mostly ethnic children, so that they had a day full of joy which characterized the joy of Easter. Through this day, too, the children had a chance to experience the love of Don Bosco for them through the Salesians.