Christmas Crèche 2014

Top:Italy, Germany, Brazil (figures) & Mexico (creche),
bottom:France, Russia, Kenya

I have a collection of Nativity scenes and creches which I purchased during my international travel over the years.

 

Top:Israel, Ireland, Denmark, bottom:Argentina, Ecuador, Slovakia

There is no rhyme or reason to the countries represented by my collection. I do not have one from every country I've visited. Not even from every country I've traveled to at Christmas.

Top:Provence, middle:Venezuela, bottom:Austria

Some of the "Christmas countries" are represented for sure ... like Italy and Ireland.

Alex's homemade creche (top), Bethlehem,
 Palestine (middle), Quebec (bottom)

But I do not have a creche in my collection from Greece or Switzerland for instance where we also visited at Christmas time.

A lot of it had to do with opportunity. If I saw one tucked away in a shop in Venezuela in the summer, I bought it. If I didn't see one at a craft market in Sweden at Christmas, I didn't.

I would display them under Christmas trees and on tables all over the house along with my family heirloom Nativity scenes.

my family's creche growing up, a snow globe from my Sunday school students,
and a Bohemian glass painting from the Czech Republic

South Africa

Regardless, they are all in storage back in the USA and not here with me in Joburg, including the ebony set I bought in South Africa in 2012.

a wood burl creche and carved figures
from the Nuremberg Christkindlesmarkt

But that means we are without a Nativity scene to display at Christmas this year.

hand-carved figures from a woodworker's shop in Florence

And that's just not right. So I needed to buy a new one to add to my collection for Christmas 2014. But I didn't want to get a second South African creche.

creche and Advent tree

Luckily we will be in Rwanda on Christmas Day. And just as luckily I found Rwanda Aid, an NGO in Rwanda that brings hope and opportunity to the people of Rwanda through various empowerment programmes, one of which is to provide street children with the skills they need  to craft lovely little Nativity scenes to sell. So I bought one.

buy a creche made by children for Rwanda Aid

If you too would like to support Rwanda Aid at Christmas by buying a Rwandan creche, you can do it online here. God bless us, everyone!