Back in the day, the holiday season was known as a time for families to gather and have fun.
 
Nowadays, some senior citizens say the season has turned into more individual vacations, with jobs taking up much of families' time.
 
Elisabeth Adams explains that, growing up, the festive season was an important period for families, especially on Christmas day, but these days some young people just rush off to the coast and have no time for their families.
 
In modern times, she says it has become a normal holiday marked by a season of good cheer and festive individual fun.
 
Leonor Nora says Christmas is a day to celebrate Jesus' birth with music, gift-giving, and decorations.
 
Back then, she says, they would start decorating their house with lights and a Christmas tree; that happens every first day of December.
 
A few days before Christmas, she says, childhood friends and neighbors in the village would go around from one house to another singing Christmas carols.
 
"Going to church as a family was a priority those days," says Koos Drotskie, but these days it is less common as the families are busy with different activities.

Today, in some homes, Christmas is celebrated with the exchange of gifts, the decoration of Christmas trees, some going to church, a family get-together, and, of course, waiting for Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, to arrive.

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Photo Credits
African safaris
Author
Lucia Nghifindaka