Well we arrived in Joya de Ceren and began to catch up with our dear friends. Having spent so much time there over the years and become so close to many people in Joya, it feels a little like coming home. Our friends were glad to see us and we them. Unfortunately, our arrival was saddened significantly as we began to catch up and learned that in addition to the one worker we already knew had died, two others had passed away. A total of three of our workers have died since last year. This hit us all very hard as we became very close to all of these men.
One death of my dear friend Chabello we had heard about earlier in the year. His son and I are Facebook friends and this past fall he reported to me that his father had suffered a heart attack. I am still grieving his loss and it is hard to come back to Joya de Ceren knowing he won't be here to welcome us back. We are planning to go spend time with his widow and son this week, which will be tough be good.
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| My birthday last year with my friend Chabello |
The other two workers' deaths were a total shock to us. One had killed himself by drinking poison and the other was murdered in the course of a robbery. These are all tough to take and each of these three men are missed as project members and friends. This worker had been only 22 years old. Last year I had driven him home after our end-of-the-year party. I had known he took a bus to come work with us each day but had no idea that he lived two hours away by bus and spent almost half of his daily salary getting back and forth from work and home (we compensated him for this once we knew!). He was 21 years old and supporting his mom, sister, and grandmother but living in a gang-ridden area. It was an experience I will never forget and so humbling to see what so many individuals live through and do for their families. Tragic and sad.
I thought it worth sharing this news with all of you. It is easy to feel like my fieldwork area will be the same each time I return, but I'm stuck every time by the dynamic changes that occur in all our lives so quickly. A year has passed and I've returned to see the babies now toddlers, the children growing quickly, and that not all of the friends I left behind a year ago are here to welcome me back. This is life and reminds me to be ever so grateful for my days and cherish the time we have here.
The anthropologist cannot be kept separate from those they study or study along side-of and this is ever so apparent at the loss of my friends.
Its always hard to lose someone you've worked with, but to see three people lose their life? Its unbearable.
ReplyDeleteThere have been times where I would think when I would lose my family slowly because of cancer or heart attacks. But I've never thought of spending time with them, just when they'd be gone.
The shooting that had recently happened shouldn't have been intended because there are people still continuing to live there lives after seeing a movie on a regular Friday night. For example, a student that had just graduated the University of Colorado died protecting his girlfriend.
Unexpected things happen to those that are good, but at least we can think of them being in a better place now.
My condolences on your loss and I hope things get better because they will.