"antüshi pia" the first words in the unknown

by David Alejandro Bermudez Triana (Colombia)

A leap into the unknown Colombia

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Think about a trip you never thought you could done, and when you got there, see everything you've lost. I am a young man from the city of Bogota a cement city where six million people live. A busy, hostile and dreary city. That January day we drove with friends by road for 24 hours in a row, we were five young people inspired by an NGO project, in order to go to Guajira, Colombia to have contact with the Wayuu indigenous community and spend a week living with them. It was a long trip, but we finally arrived at a Hostel in Riohacha. In fact, I had never slept in a hammock in my life, but I had never fallen asleep so easily, because I knew that my next day was going to be different from anyone which i had lived. When we woke up we met the rest of the members of the organization, then we were heading towards Manaure. This is a small town located in La Guajira, the most recognized about this town are the salt flats, mountains of sea salt that the companies exploit for their benefits, I saw the riches of my country but when I looked towards the other window I really saw the precarious situation in which the people of the region lives. Our partners told us "when the children stop you with the cables, give them the bread or soft drinks by the window without opening it completely", actually i didn´t know what they meant, I was baffled by this. A few minutes later when we were on the road, it became increasingly difficult to drive and I saw that the indigenous children every time a car passed raised a metal cable to ask for some food, a situation that was repeated 14 times. After giving them the bread the silence in the car it was uncomfortable, I really felt frustrated, sad and baffled that the situation in my country was this way, that the government did not do something to provide services to these people, It was an hour of thoughts on my mind. Arriving at the ranch of Hirtu and getting out of the car, I saw a completely arid environment, dry trees, cactus, an environment very similar to those African savannas that I always saw in Animal Planet on those sleepless nights. Many people of indigenous physical characteristics came to us smiling at us, hugging us and saying “antüshi pia” which means welcome, it was the warmest reception I have ever felt in my life, I really had the idea of thanks to these people to see that some foreigners were in their territory forgotten by the government, forgotten by the institutions, because we were willing to help them. That first day we settled, we were going to be in the open under a tin roof, sleeping in a hammock this was going to be our bedroom for those days, something that got me excited It was already five in the afternoon, the sun was hiding on the horizon while the moon appeared in the sky and a number of stars that I had never seen in my life appeared, a starry night I thought remembering the Van Gogh´s painting. It was a magical night while we were around awood fire we agreed on the points of the projects we would develop. We woke up early every morning, had breakfast and went out to our projects, we walked along those arid roads for hours while the sun burned our backs, carrying tools despite this we were excited to be in such an inhospitable territory, a place in which we never thought we were going to be. Those nights were cold, full of strange sounds that would not let us sleep, and feel strange presences that reminded us of the spirituality of this indigenous territory. The following days were full of laughter, injuries caused by cactus, scares by sounds at night and hard work. Nights under the stars with bonfires, and things that I saw that changed my way of thinking, this was the best situation I could be in.