It was terrible, but we’re alive

Guadalupe Ortega Montés y Claudia Hernández Ortega

Jojutla, Morelos.

In an outdoor basketball court, turned into a temporary shelter, we found Guadalupe Ortega Montes and her daughter Claudia Hernandez Ortega. Both are survivors of the 7.1 magnitude earthquake that shook Jojutla, Morelos. Off to the side, their home is in ruins.

̈It was terrible, but I thank God that we got out alive ̈ states Guadalupe, a women of approximately 50 years of age that despite her situation could give a hint of a smile. While her daughter Claudia was working as cleaning staff at a private school, close to her home, Guadalupe was taking care of her two small grandchildren during the earthquake. She says:

̈The earthquake hit when I was inside the house with my two little grandkids. They were watching cartoons on television when I saw that the house started to shake and the shingles of the house started to fall. I didn’t think it would be how it ended up being. So we went under the bunk bed because I told myself if I walk with them a shingle could fall on them or on me and we stayed. ̈We were under the bed. When I saw that the walls started to fall then I said ̈Oh my God ̈ I thought that we would die crushed, that we would die of suffocation because there was so much dust. Thank God there wasn ́t that much dust. When the earthquake passed, my grandkids and I walked across the debris, I wanted to get them out but I couldn’t because the door was closed, blocked by the debris. I started to move the dirt with my hands. My house was adobe, when it fell there was a lot of clay and dirt. While I was doing this, my grandkids were yelling and crying ̈Mom, mom! ̈ I told them ̈We ‘re ok. ̈

Claudia is thankful for the university students that, despite being in the middle of the chaos of the fallen buildings and the dust and dirt, stopped to help her to free her mom, son, and nephew. Before she arrived home the students were already providing help to her family. One of them suffered a cut on his leg when a piece of roof fell down on him while he broke down the wooden door.

Women in misery…

The difficult times for Claudia started seven months ago. Before working as cleaning personnel in the private school that today is in ruins, she worked at the Shelter for Women, which depended on the local government and closed in June. During this time she didn’t receive a salary for her work as a nurse. Despite having presented a complaint to the local government, the person in charge of the shelter didn ́t pay the salaries from previous months. The treasurer didn ́t reimburse the travel expenses that with Claudia had paid with her own money either.

̈I trusted them and they just robbed me. ̈ Guadalupe ́s daughter says before breaking out in tears. Her gaze was strong, in her eyes we could see her sadness, anger, and frustration. Every lost wage is an injustice for her and the family she must provide food for.

̈We make pastries and we sell them outside the church, but look, even the church has fallen. We sell pastries and during the day we take them out little by little. I work with my daughter who is a single mom. Right now we are living on what people bring us ̈ says Guadalupe.

Without a home there isn ́t even a source of work that can help them survive. Guadalupe hopes that the President of Mexico, who visited Jojutla on Wednesday September 20, comes through on his promise. They told him that they would help with the reconstruction of her house, but they will have to wait and the process can be long. No one has given them an exact date.

Not without a bunk bed…

At the end of our conversation with both women, Guadalupe tells us that one of her grandchildren, upon learning that at any moment they could receive help to build their house, confessed to his grandma that he wouldn ́t enter any house that didn ́t have a bunk bed. For the child, as for Guadalupe, this piece of furniture saved their lives. The little one has this very clear. The women even more.

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