By Chili Ornelas
I met Elena and her children at the bus station one day as they were getting ready to go to some town further north. As I often do, I asked if anyone had traveled via the Darian Gap. She told me that she had, and how she almost died there. Here is her story.
Elena, a Colombian woman, was seeking a better life for her children. Gang violence in her small town had gotten out of control, and even the police were involved in graft and petty theft. She prepared her children for the trip as best she could. She borrowed money and finally started on her long journey north. Her oldest son was 8; the younger girl was 6, but her biggest worry was her 3-year-old toddler.
She eventually found herself crossing from Columbia into Panama. The only way to get there was through the Darian Gap. She joined a small group of other immigrants and started walking the jungle. The Darian Gap route is a 60-mile trip that normally takes four to five days. It is a rainforest jungle with flash rains and fast-flowing creeks and gullies. It has hills and valleys and a steaming, humid climate. It is also a no man’s land where there are no civil authorities or laws.
Because of traveling with small children, Elena eventually falls to the end of the line of travelers. She stops to rest, and the rest of the immigrants continue on. She is so tired, scared, and worried about her kids.
After a few hours, she hears another group of immigrants coming her way. She joins them but slowly finds herself at the end of the line again. The mud, the weather, the ups and downs of the hills – it is all too much for her. She is so very tired and just wants to stop and sleep. She slowly gets her wish as she realizes that, again, she has been left behind and alone with her children. She follows the path that others have left and comes to a flowing creek that must be crossed.
It gets dark, and she fears being alone at night in a jungle. She feels so lost, so tired, and so very concerned for her children. She starts crossing the creek and manages to get the older son and daughter across by walking on rocks on the creek floor. Her toddler daughter is on her back and is screaming and crying. Elena is pushed by the water. She suddenly loses her balance and falls into a pool of water with the toddler still on her back. She comes back up after struggling with the child and swallowing some of the water. She tosses the child to her older son, then finds herself being drawn back underwater.
She is so tired, she feels sleepy, all she wants is to rest. The warm water is so restful, so calming. She starts to doze off.
She hears her children screaming and crying as if in a dream. She then realizes that they will perish without her. It is at night in a jungle. But she is so tired. She finally pushes herself off the creek floor and crawls to her children.
They spend the night together, all wet, very cold, but hugging, loving together. In the morning, they hear another immigrant caravan coming through the jungle. Elena and her family join them, and it is with that third group that she eventually reaches civilization.
