![\"Guatemalan](\"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/images\/22-1104-s2p-cosdod-800x600.jpg\")
PHOTO CAPTION: Guatemalan community gathers at the Church of Scientology Los Angeles to celebrate the culture of their homeland and honor family members who have passed.<\/em><\/p>\n
This year\u2019s Fiambre weighed 900 pounds and is thought to be the largest ever created outside the borders of Guatemala. It included 80 Ingredients from a variety of meats and seafood to vegetables, fruits, nuts, legumes, spices, juice, and an oil and vinegar dressing. It was followed by a traditional Guatemalan dessert made of\u00a0ayote, a winter squash native to Guatemala, flavored with cinnamon and a cane sugar product called\u00a0panela.<\/p>\n
Los Angeles County is home to more than 200,000 Guatemalans making it the largest Guatemalan community in the U.S. — a community that has grown more than 25 percent over the past decade.<\/p>\n
Guatemalan-American community leaders believe in the importance of promoting the traditions, values and culture of the land of their ancestors some 2,700 miles away.<\/p>\n
With entire generations growing up having little contact with their roots, a traditional Guatemalan Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebration is one way to preserve these customs and keep the culture alive. Organizers believe that sharing the community\u2019s cultural heritage is vital to preserve the children\u2019s sense of identity and instill unity and national pride.<\/p>\n
While families created the magnificent Fiambre, mural artist Oscar de Salcaja created a chalk painting in the Church of Scientology parking lot celebrating the culture of Guatemala.<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you to the Church of Scientology for providing a place to keep our country\u2019s traditions alive,\u201d said Walter Batres, leader of the Guatemalan Migrants Network.\u00a0\u201cWe want to preserve our heritage here in the United States and pass it down to our children. This is the second year we have been able to hold our Fiambre here at your Church and we are grateful for this.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Church of Scientology has partnered with the Guatemalan community since the 1990s to provide tools to improve the quality of life and the future of Guatemalans in their homeland and Los Angeles.<\/p>\n
Working together on\u00a0food drives<\/a>, the Church of Scientology Los Angeles and the Guatemalan Chamber of Commerce helped thousands of local families overcome food insecurity during the pandemic.<\/p>\n Those attending the Fiambre were invited to return for the Church\u2019s annual Community Holiday Lighting Ceremony Saturday, November 19, to help \u201cflip the switch\u201d on two city blocks of holiday lights and stay for the hot cocoa, live music, and winter-themed family fun.<\/p>\n Los Angeles Scientology Churches serve as hubs for religious organizations, like-minded groups and community leaders all over the Southland, welcoming all cultures, all religions and all nationalities to create a positive Los Angeles.<\/p>\n The\u00a0Church of Scientology Los Angeles<\/a>, dedicated by Scientology ecclesiastical leader\u00a0Mr. David Miscavige in 2010<\/a>, is featured in an episode of\u00a0Inside Scientology<\/a>\u00a0on the Scientology Network, available on DIRECTV channel 320 and streaming at Scientology.tv, through\u00a0mobile apps<\/a>\u00a0and via the Roku, Amazon Fire and Apple TV platforms.<\/p>\n For more information, visit the website of the\u00a0Church of Scientology Los Angeles<\/a>\u00a0or the new interactive timeline at\u00a0Scientology.org\/our-help-is-yours\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n LEARN MORE:<\/strong><\/p>\n https:\/\/www.scientology.org\/our-help-is-yours\/<\/a><\/p>\n https:\/\/www.scientology-losangeles.org<\/a><\/p>\n MULTIMEDIA:<\/strong><\/p>\n
![https:\/\/www.Send2Press.com\/300dpi\/22-1104-s2p-cosdod-300dpi.jpg<\/a><\/p>\nCAPTION: Guatemalan community gathers at the Church of Scientology Los Angeles to celebrate the culture of their homeland and honor family members who have passed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HOLLYWOOD, Calif., Nov. 4, 2022 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Members of the Los Angeles Guatemala community gathered at the Church of Scientology Los Angeles this weekend for a ceremony and Fiambre – a 500-year-old Guatemalan custom in which families join in creating a huge platter of food that is then shared by all. It is held each year as part of the observance of the Day of the Dead to remember and celebrate the lives of loved ones who have passed away.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8949,"featured_media":86474,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[608,12804,10,513],"tags":[18730,17443],"class_list":["post-86483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-religion-news","category-ap","category-california-news","category-hollywood-news","tag-day-of-the-dead","tag-scientology-los-angeles","has-post-title","has-post-date","no-post-category","no-post-tag","no-post-comment","has-post-author"],"acf":[],"views":3284,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8949"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86483"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86483\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}](\"https:\/\/www.Send2Press.com\/300dpi\/22-1104-s2p-cosdod-300dpi.jpg\"){kind=link}