Jesus, son of riders #PlaymobilRiders

 

Joseph and Mary have arrived in the city. They spent months confined in a center in the Canary Islands. Their stay kept being extended due to the incompetence and inhumanity of political parties and the constant squabbling among them.

Finding housing in the city is impossible, and even more so for undocumented migrants. With nowhere to live and no work, they have ended up living and sleeping outdoors, in a park. Their university studies and professional training have been of no use. They have not been able to register as residents because many city councils put up numerous obstacles. They have no papers, but they want to work. And Mary is pregnant.

They were offered work as delivery riders and said yes. They are willing to do anything to live with dignity, and this is one of the few options they can cling to. Because they have no papers, they must work using another rider’s license. Mary found a woman who lets her use her authorization for free, but Joseph has only managed to get a license from a young man, to whom he will have to pay a percentage of everything he earns.

They were lent one bicycle and bought another very cheap one on Wallapop. They also had to buy the equipment, since the company does not even provide the backpack. The bicycles are not electric and, therefore, they are at a disadvantage compared to other colleagues. They do an exhausting number of deliveries, because to earn even a minimum income they need to work many hours and be lucky. Occasional tips allow them to have some extra income and survive.

The day of the birth is approaching, but both continue working. Mary does fewer deliveries because everything is much harder for her. Joseph makes up for it by working more hours.

At midnight, Mary went into labor. They called an ambulance, but because the park where they sleep is closed, medical services could not reach them. She gave birth with the help of everyone sleeping there. Everyone sprang into action and, throughout the night, accompanied them and offered and provided whatever help they could.

Early in the morning, when the park opened, they were able to take them to a hospital, and after a medical examination, both were discharged: mother and son.

The news spread throughout the rider world, across the entire city through radio and newspapers. Their colleagues managed to find them a room where they could stay for a few months. Thanks to the news, many people learned more about the work of riders and, now that they know the conditions under which they work, most customers treat them better. As a knock-on effect, the government, seeing the public reaction, was forced not to make resident registration so difficult.

Finally, on January 6th they were allowed to register as residents. On the same date, Parliament approved an amendment to the immigration law that speeds up the regularization of undocumented people so they can work and live with dignity. Coinciding with this, rider companies took a first step and decided to provide all delivery workers with the minimum equipment needed to work.

The child was named Jesus.

From Bethlehem, for TV Bethlehem, Laia Bonet

 

 

OTHERS:

·       Video story : https://bit.ly/Nadal25PessebreVIDEO

·       Video Music:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_d3DW-7QLE

·       Fotos:  http://bit.ly/GFNadal25FotosPessebre

·       Lyrics: https://drive.google.com/file/d/19_GhzMNRmRIYYKjzaZiH9fhDFt6pE-tW/view?usp=sharing

·       Video song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_d3DW-7QLE

·       Song: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jz7XWo45ei6wL7kwnfPLujsEFRHjdnc_/view?usp=sharing

·       Other languages:

CAT ESP ENG FRA POR EUS SWE DEU ITA GRE HOL ÀRAB

 

Jesus is born in Albania. Christmas 2024

   CAT ESP ENG FRA POR EUS SWE DEU ITA GRE HOL ÀRAB

Merry Christmas! Every year I make a manger that is my interpretation of where Jesus would have been born if he had been born that same year 2024.
This year I imagined that Jesus was born in Albania. I hope you like it and help you see what Christmas represents.
I have made a lively video of the manger with the narration. Here's the video of the manger with English subtitles, and then you will find the text.

 

Joseph and Mary decided to risk everything and embark on a boat to go to Europe. They are expecting a child and know that there is no future in their country.

The boat’s engine stopped working and while they had lost all hope they got rescued by a ship that took them to Italy. After disembarking they got taken to a detention centre.

They have been there for days and today they were informed that they are being sent to another detention centre, in Albania. There is a lot of anticipation because it is the first time that Italy has taken this decision. While boarding the ship to Albania, they are surrounded by journalists and many other people that are curious. The European governments seem to support this new policy and are considering implementing similar measures.

Joseph and Mary are scared. They do not know where they are going or what awaits them in this other country. Mary feels a strange sensation and warns the Italian police that she is not well. The Italian police officer who helps them board the ship – a true example of humanity – sees Mary’s belly and points out that, in her state, they should not make her board, since pregnant people cannot be deported. His superior ignores him and they board anyway.

During the journey, with the movement of the ship, Maria goes into labor and upon entering Albanian waters, the baby is born. Among the 18 deported people traveling with them, there is a girl with experience in childbirth and she helps them deliver the baby. With all the commotion, the journey, that was expected to be hell, has passed quickly and the baby is already crying. They wrapped the baby in a towel that was lying around and placed it on a wooden pallet, which is the only dry place on the ship.

Once on land, they get taken to a medical center. There, the health services attest to what has happened and inform the authorities that they will not accept the entry of the deported people since the pre-established criteria have not been met.

The Albanian authorities confirm the information and return almost the entire group to Italy. The media hardly covers the return. Upon disembarkation, they are released to avoid further scandals.

They all decide that the child will be called Jesus – which means “the savior” – because he has saved them from deportation. The family of the policeman who had tried to prevent them from boarding and being deported, welcomes them into their home until the new mother recovers.

On January 6, a judge declared the policy of deporting to centers abroad as illegal, which was already the case in United Kingdom. Hopefully, this will help prevent inhumane and illegal policies like this from happening again.

 From Italy and Albania, for TV Bethlehem, Laia Bonet.

 

More information:

• Video: http://bit.ly/Nadal24PessebreVIDEO

• Music: It is a song made expressly for the video and recorded by a small orchestra. You will find the lyrics and the musicians and composers in a Word and the soundtrack in a wav file. You also have a video of the recording of the song.

• Video recording of the soundtrack

• Lyrics, vocalists and musicians

•  Song, soundtrack

• Photos: http://bit.ly/GFNadal24FotosPessebre

• Videos of nativity scenes from previous years: http://bit.ly/VIDEOSPessebresFRMAT (Playlist)

 

Jesus is born in Gaza.Christmas 2023

 CAT ESP ENG FRA POR EUS POR DEU ITA GRE ÀRAB

Merry Christmas! Every year I make a manger that is my interpretation of where Jesus would have been born if he had been born that same year 2023.
This year I imagined that Jesus was born in Gaza. I hope you like it and help you see what Christmas represents.
I have made a lively video of the manger with the narration. Here's the video of the manger with English subtitles, and then you will find the text.

Joseph and Mary have gone to the Gaza Strip to visit some Palestinian friends. They’ve been lucky, they were allowed to cross the border.
María is in an advanced state of pregnancy, but since it is just a quick trip and the meeting is important, it was worth going.
They woke up startled by the explosions. The day before there had been an attack in Israeli territory and many people had died.
The border is closed to everyone, and a bombing has started. There are no safe areas in the Gaza Strip and everyone is very afraid. They bomb schools, hospitals, and entire residential buildings.
They are told to leave the city, to go south, but the first to do so have died on the way from an attack. They are trapped, with all the inhabitants of the Strip.
The day of delivery is approaching, and Joseph and Mary continue searching for shelter, food and water, but it is becoming increasingly difficult to find it because Israel has cut off all supplies. For now, it is impossible to return home. Bombs have fallen very close, many people have died, including a large number of children, but they were lucky and only have minor injuries. All the houses they could go to are destroyed. The bombings are massive and indiscriminate.
With the suffering of all those people, they are aware that for the government of Israel, right now, they are only a hindrance. It doesn't matter if they are thirsty or hungry, or if they have just lost the people they love most; not even if they are seriously ill or die. There is no truce. They are a number, or collateral damage. They're not even sure about that. They are poor and perhaps not even a number.
María notices labour pains and they don’t know where to go. Added to the fears of the first time giving birth is the anguish of knowing that no one will be able to help them because the bombs, the wounded and the fear leave no room to have a proper birth. And even less for the birth of an enemy, since it is their government that is massacring the population of the Gaza Strip.
It's getting dark and cold. They take shelter among rubble in a sunken building with a roof that miraculously remains intact. María goes into labour and the news spreads quickly around the area. Despite knowing that they are Jews, health workers show up to help. And water! (which someone must have hidden). And some food, even though everyone has been hungry for days. Under the rubble and the bombs, everyone returns to the only thing we should always be: people.
In the early morning the child was born. Miraculously the bombings have stopped because it is Christmas. The parents name him Jesus, which means "the saviour", since in the midst of this massacre of human lives a child has just been born and he has been the only one capable of making everyone forget where he comes from and what he is, to only worry about who he is. A child who will be salvation and who will work to end war and the absurdity of violence between human beings.

From Palestine 2023 years later, from the Gaza Strip, for TV Belén, Laia Bonet

MORE INFORMATION:

FOTOS: http://bit.ly/GFNadal23FotosPessebre  

VIDEO: http://bit.ly/Nadal23PessebreVIDEO 

PREVIOUS YEARS VIDEOS : http://bit.ly/VIDEOSpessebresFRMAT 

SONG :  https://bit.ly/Nadal23PessebreMUSICA