Teatro Chirmol, a bilingual theater group at ²ÝÝ®ÉçÇø, will present a Christmas play, "La Pastorela," at 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 10-11, in the mainstage theater of the University Commons.

The cast includes local Latino high school students, EMU students and bilingual community members.

"La Pastorela" is a traditional Mexican Christmas nativity play that tells the story of a group of shepherds who are visited by angels. The angels tell the shepherds about the birth of the Christ Child and ask them to take the journey to Bethlehem. They embark on their journey, but on the way they face many struggles and obstacles to achieving their goal.

Teatro Chirmol, in its third year, "seeks to give authentic voice to the local Latino community, integrate Latino youth with university students and provide community education about the assets and challenges of living biculturally in the Shenandoah Valley," according to play directors Silvia Romero and Marcos Quintana.

Tickets are $4 for adults and $2 for students and children at the door.

Zulia Mena will speak about the impact of the war in Colombia and U.S. foreign policy on the Afro-Colombian people 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 5, in the Common Grounds Coffeehouse at EMU. The coffeehouse is located on ground floor of EMU’s University Commons.

Ms. Mena was elected to Congress in 1994, serving for four years as Colombia’s first ever Afro-Colombian congresswoman. Today, she continues her work in the Choc� as a community organizer and social worker.

At 8 p.m. Tuesday, Mena will speak at James Madison University. She will be accompanied by Harrisonburg resident Silvia Romero, who will talk about her experiences as a Latino in the Shenandoah Valley. The presentation will be held at the Health and Human Services (HHS) Building 1301.

Ms. Romero was born in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico. Her family came to the United States in 1991, and she started elementary school not speaking a word of English. Romero currently works for the Shenandoah Valley Migrant Education Program and is involved in the community through her church, Blessed Sacrament, and the Latino theater troupe, Teatro Chirmol.

Mena is traveling across the southeastern U.S. with Witness for Peace, acting as a voice for the Afro-Colombian population internationally. Her appearances locally are sponsored in part by EMU’s Conflict Transformation Program (CTP).

Admission to both presentations is free.

For more information, contact Danny Malec, (540) 729-6936; e-mail: dannymalec@hotmail.com.