Susan Wood |
Imbabura (Ecuador), (EFE).- Known as “Mother Courage” for welcoming Venezuelan migrants into her home since 2017, the Ecuadorian Carmen Carcelén continues to offer shelter to the displaced, 50,000 of whom have already passed through her humble home: some when going in search of better living conditions and others on their return trip to their country.
A seller of fruits and vegetables in a market in the Colombian city of Ipiales, Carcelén began her journey with Venezuelans in 2017, when she found eleven migrants walking along the road and took them in her truck to her home, in the town of Juncal, of about 2,500 inhabitants and affected by poverty.
Most of her “guests” stayed in her home for two to three days, ate, washed, and continued their journey, but others came to live with her for up to three years, while some more rented nearby rooms, but came to her house for meal.
“But as the years went by, people came in a hurry: they stayed in the afternoon, bathed, rested, had a snack, and the next day, after breakfast, they continued,” Carmén Carcelén told EFE, recalling that “most At that time (2019) I was going to Peru ”.
Taking care of others is not new for this woman who, at the age of 10, found herself on the street because her alcoholic father threw her out of the house.
Biological mother of six children, Carcelén, 53, also raised two nephews in Juncal, where she has a four-bedroom house, kitchen, living room, dining room, terrace, and patio, which has become a true refuge for migrants. .
Rebellion during covid-19
The covid-19 pandemic hit migrants twice “because they were practically the lepers of our country because people persecuted them, mistreated them and did not let them stay in the towns,” said Carcelén, a seamstress by profession.
“They hid under the bridge, they went to the river. That was a very hard time because they did not allow me to be in my house, so what we did was cook, go look for them on the bridge, the river, the mountains, on the road and give them food, ”he recounted.
She was not alone in this task, she was supported by other Venezuelans and received donations from Ecuadorians, such as those from the “Montaña de Luz” community, a nearby Hogar de Ecoespiritualidad, in the province of Imbabura (north), which donated money as well as vegetables , vegetables and fruits from their organic gardens.
Remember that many organizations asked him to close the doors of his house to avoid contagion.
Carmen Carcelén: “I never stopped hugging”
“I was a disobedient person: I did use masks, chlorine, ammonia, disinfectants, but I never stopped hugging, being with those children, I never stopped looking for food, giving them clothes and that. Yes, I jumped into the void (…) but I always said that if I die, I die doing beautiful things, ”she added.
He recalled that at one point there was persecution of Venezuelans in the town, but then they were able to house 27 people in the Church, 13 of them children, and a pregnant woman, who gave birth early while traveling with a one-year-old girl. and four months.
The little girl lived with Carmen Carcelén for the three months that the mother and baby were under medical care in a nursing home.
Collateral victims of a strike
Venezuelan migrants were collateral victims of social protests that lasted eleven days in October 2019, since they could not circulate since the protesters closed the roads.
He nostalgically remembers two elderly Venezuelans who arrived with their clothes on after being abandoned in Cúcuta (Colombia) by the “advisors” whom they had paid to take them to Quito, where their children were.
“They came walking with a group of young people. They reached the Juncal bridge and an eight-year-old boy took them by the hand” to the house of Carmen Carcelén, where they stayed for 15 days.
Thousands of “children” of Carmen Carcelen
A cheerful, strong woman with a powerful voice, Carcelén remembers that at a time of great influx, the migrants slept in the rooms, on the terrace, in the living room, in the patio and in their truck.
“I don’t know, I haven’t found an answer in all these years,” he answers when asked how he financed all the help: “What I know is that when more people arrived, more people made the decision to come to my house with food. They even sent me food, medicine, milk, water from Guayaquil…”.
Now she counts her “children” by the thousands, who send her messages from Peru, Chile, the US, Canada, Quito: “I have a great family.” migrants for their selfless work, which has been reflected in the documentary “Carmela and the walkers”, which has already won awards in Chile, Mexico and Amsterdam, with the story of unlimited solidarity.