Tragedia en Lumbisí

On Monday, Elizabeth, Zack, and I were hanging out in Quito for a bit after classes (around 5pm or so). I got a text from Kelsey (who lives in Lumbisí next-door to Zack) saying something to the effect of “Hey I know you work with the kids in Lumbisí a lot and wanted to let you know that today 7 or 8 children died in the river.” I immediately began to freak out, even thinking that it could have been the class that I was supposed to be volunteering at that day that had gone down to the river. Zack called Kelsey right away to get more information, and she said that a bunch of kids had gone down to the river to fish or play or something, and there was some sort of dam or something that broke and the kids drowned and there was a rescue effort going on and of course crowds of worried neighbors. She wasn’t sure of the names of any of the kids that had been down there or whether it was for a class or just on their own or anything. She said she’d thought she heard the name Jeimy (pronounced “Jamie”) – but she wasn’t sure.

The three of us left right away for Lumbisí, Elizabeth came along for moral support despite that she’d never been to Lumbisí and this may not have been the best first experience there. When we got to Lumbisí after what seemed like the longest 45-minute bus ride ever, there was a huge crowd outside of the Casa Social in the main park along with a few ambulances and police cars and such. We found Zack's family pretty quickly and asked them what happened, and they confirmed more or less what Kelsey had said, but that at the moment there were 5 dead, 4 saved, and 1 still missing. They were not all from my class, instead they were mostly from 6th grade and had gone to the river on their own after classes, around 1:30, to try to catch fish to sell at their school. Kelsey’s sister, Grace/Estefa (either name) is in 6th grade and thus knows/knew a lot of them. We asked them if they knew any names and they weren’t sure either, they did think that at least one might’ve been from the street leading to Zack and Kelsey's houses. We decided to head in the direction of Zack's house, whilst looking for other people we knew to see if they knew any more and just for the sake of talking to people. After a bit we ended up at my house and decided to go next door to Kelsey’s to be with Estefa. She and her 12-year-old brother Alex were home, their dad was still working and their mom was up in the park. They were watching TV, as they knew that in the next hour or so the story was going to air on no less that 3 news channels. Estefa was pretty messed up, though not totally gone (not in an injured sense, in a sadness/grief sense), and managed a few laughs to the Simpson’s, which was on before the news. She knew more specific names and confirmed that Jeimy, the girl I know from volunteering, was one of the ones that died. The pain in her face as she told us the names was heartbreaking.

Eventually the news did show the incident, but there wasn’t much of anything that we hadn’t already known, except that one of the first women that made it down to help (there were 2 kids that ran up to town to get help when the others were caught in the water) was the mother of a girl named Blanca, and she had managed to save three children but couldn’t make it to Blanca, who could only wave goodbye to her mother. She later drowned. The report showed Blanca{s mother attempting to talk to the reporter, but barely being able to get any words out, so bothersome and horrible to watch. Evidently, a few of the bodies were found down the river as far as Tumbaco, which for those of you who don’t know (most), is a good 5-plus miles. When the names of the deceased and the missing girl showed up on the screen, Estefa buried her head in the pillows and of course the rest of us couldn’t quite hold everything back.

We thought that the funeral was going to be Tuesday, but they wanted to wait until the girl who was missing was found, which didn't happen until Wednesday.

They held the funeral on Wednesday at noon for the 5 children: Alex Shuquitarco, Blanca Guamán, Edison Pujota, Jéssica Herrera, and Jeimy Tusa. All were 10 and 11 years old. I attended with my coordinator, Maria Teresa, who helped organize the volunteer work that we do in Lumbisí, and she also comes by the after-school program when she can. To see all the parents sitting in a row in front of five little caskets was devastating. I stood with a girl from the Oratorio (volunteering), Shelley, who I think is the same age as the children who died, for a while, and also with Estefa.

We walked up to the cemetery and I just heard screams and cries from the families. The sister of Jessica was crying "Mi ñoña! mi ñoñaaa!" (my sister! my sister!) and her and the mother of Jessica fainted. I was confused and just sad for a while because I didn't know which way to go to for Jeimy, I had brought flowers for her. Her coffin was put in a niche and closed off with bricks, but I managed to give my flowers along with many others before it was closed. Her mother also fainted in front of me, so I gave the family the water I had and broke down crying.

Seconds after that happened, a reporter nearby got a phone call, and as he went running away he said "Encontraron la otra chica!" (They found the other girl!) All the children went running out of the cemetery to find out anything they could about the missing girl, Mayra Cerón. For some reason, as I left the cemetery, there was a rumor floating around that they had found her alive, but it turned out that they found her under some sand or rocks on the bottom of the river, already there for 2 days.

We found out that the cause of the rush of water was that some Electric company that controls the flow of the water upriver let the gates open to clear the river of garbage. Usually, in the past, there had been an alarm. This water swept away the children, and 6 of them drowned. The company is denying any responsibility. They know that the families in Lumbisí have no money for lawyers, the families even had to borrow money from friends and family to pay for the coffins. Welcome to Ecuador.

Rest in peace, niños.

http://www.elcomercio.com/noticiaEC.asp?id_noticia=271962&id_seccion=4

Yes, I felt disrespectful taking pictures, but I want people who weren't there to understand what happened.

They held the funeral outside of the church because the whole town was there and wouldn't be able to fit inside.

Procession to the cemetery- This is Jeimy's 'grave'-