19/09/18
Dear reader, whoever you may be;
A year ago an earthquake shook my country, it caught us mexicans by surprise. It all happened on the 32nd anniversary of the biggest earthquake and natural catastrophe Mexico has ever experienced.
The first time it completely stunned and deterred our capabilities to overcome the tragedy. It happened on september 19th 1985 at 7:19 AM.
The second time it reminded us how fragile and valuable human life is. It happened on september 19th 2017 at 13:14 PM.
On the days and hours following the seismic event, water was scarce as well as sanitation and meds.
The big cities recovered from damage very fast, however the poorest towns had a hard time getting help from the government. The aid was insufficient.
I was at the moment an EMT in training from the S.O.S. Rescue Squad, a non-governmental organization that provides emergency medical services all over my hometown.
We travelled to many locations that were categorized as disaster zones and required help immediately.
We saw many things along the way. Pain. Grief. Helplessness.
The poorest villages had it worse, they had almost all of their homes reduced to small pieces.
I saw elderly people fighting for simple medicines, for food, for bottled water. Children fighting for powdered milk. Families crying over their lost homes.
I saw how forsaken is the poorest people.
How fragile are we?
I had a mental breakdown onsite, and I couldn’t allow this to overcome my duty, so I wrote a small, a really small poem, in my head.
On my way back from one of these villages, I put it on paper, I wrote it down on my paramedic notebook. This tiny poem seems insignificant, but it was the only way I could focus on my tasks. It is actually a list of the pillars of my soul in a moment of crisis.
Many feelings arose after this event.
I felt love and fear and anguish and hope.
My favourite humans were on my side, physically and spiritually.
And Mexico stayed together.
Our society saw how damaged was the country, so thousands of households gave away bottled water, medicines, clothes, beds. Companies offered their services to help; some gave free transportation, others gave canned food or free telecommunication services. Some building companies offered their building trucks for debris removal, others started planning the new relief homes for the thousands of families. Meds and food started to be so abundant we had to tell the people to stop.
Maybe cataclysms are meant to literally shake your world, to let you see upon which roots you are living.
I write this in english hoping it is universally understandable for sharing my story to other nations. Mexico has many problems, and yet its people have infinite solutions.
And something is quite true.
Mexicans never surrender.
(Poem written on 27/09/17)
Julio Ortiz
