Maria was a difficult interview. Difficult because she tended to talk about whatever she wanted to talk about, ignoring my questions. And even more difficult because her life story is so tragic.
During Colombia's Great Violence, Maria and her husband lived on a mountain near Cali, along with their seven young children. Her husband was murdered by guerillas, his body eaten by vultures. Fearing the safety of her children, Maria took her family and fled down the mountain. They were many days without food or water. Maria tells the story of one particular night when she and the children were sleeping outside in the rain. She was awakened by a voice calling her name. At first she thought it was her husband's voice, but she knew it could not be. The voice called to her to wake up. She did, and she discovered that the river had flooded its banks and that she and her children were in danger of being swept away. So she gathered her children and moved on to higher ground. She swears that the voice that saved them was the voice of God.
But Maria's story takes a twist, as before she and her children were able to escape the mountain, all seven kids died of starvation or hypothermia. What a terrible thing for a mother to endure... watching helplessly as her children died slow and painful deaths! She is haunted by the memories still. As she recounts the story, her hands clinch tightly and she contorts her face in agony. She is quite possibly the most angry and emotionally scarred person I have ever met.
In her old age, she depends on the kindness and generosity of others to survive. The Cali Central Cumberland Presbyterian Church pays for her to stay in a nursing home. And when Hogar Samaria is ready, Maria will have a place to live out her final years. She says that without the church, she doesn't know where she would live or where she would die.
(photo by Mark Mosrie)
