Roam: Tragedy in Arenal

Days after our failed attempt to drive to La Fortuna, there was tragedy on this same stretch of road. We heard Tuesday that a man and his son had been carried away by a massive landslide early Tuesday morning. The story we heard was that the man was asked to check out and photograph a recent landslide, about 10 km from our town, by the owner of the land, and he also wanted to warn a bus driver of the danger on the road. His young son had begged to come with him, though he should have been at home getting ready for school. While they were looking at the old landslide, a new slide gave way and buried them. We heard that the man was on the phone with his wife at the time. There was a huge search effort organized, with many many volunteers digging with shovels to try to find them. The expat community organized to bring food and drinks to the 350+ searchers, and stores and restaurants donated food as well.

On Wednesday I first learned that the boy was 10 years old and a 4th grader at our school in Nuevo Arenal. Then when Henry came home from school that day, he told us that the boy, named Robert, was in his class. Henry knew him from his first day of school in February, and Henry had helped Robert in English class. Shocking.

The search effort continued Wednesday and Thursday, and Thursday afternoon the bodies of Jeudy (the dad) and Robert were both found, lying close together.

The funeral was to be Friday afternoon, and Henry and Madeleine’s classes were told by their teachers to buy black ribbons to wear in remembrance and come to the church wearing their school uniforms at 4:00. We heard later that the bodies had to be taken to Heredia, near San Jose, 3 hours away, for autopsy. The funeral would be delayed until the bodies arrived back in Arenal. We later heard that the funeral would start around 7:30. The kids and I walked to the church and found a large group waiting around. One of Madeleine’s classmates said he had been there for hours waiting. Our crew was tired and could not wait much past 8. As Sully was falling asleep back at our house, around 8:50pm, we heard the church bells ringing to mark the beginning of the funeral. We were disappointed that we could not attend, but felt good that we had tried.

Henry’s class learned a song that they planned to sing at the funeral and again at the burial. His class watched this video at school, in order to learn the words:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-A3ZwXIVyc

Henry was eager to find the video at home and listened to it several times Friday evening. Apparently this is a traditional song for funerals here. It is beautiful.

We heard Saturday morning that the burial had also been the night before, around midnight. The condition of the bodies was not good, and they had to be buried without further delay.

At first this tragedy seemed distant, something we might hear about in the news. Because the slide was 10 km away, I initially assumed that the people lost did not have a connection to our town. As time passed, the sadness of the situation felt much closer. Now I think a lot about Robert’s mom, Adrianna, and his little sister, Shandra, who also goes to our kids’ school. To lose half of their family so suddenly, waiting over two days for them to be found, then having to go for the autopsies and then the stress and rush to finally lay them to rest. It breaks my heart. It was very beautiful to witness how our little town worked so hard to find Juedy and Robert. Everyone wanted to help. I think the family must feel very supported and must know how missed Juedy and Robert will be.

Saturday was Cultures Day in Costa Rica, and also the day that we got Nik back from his latest work trip to Portland. In light of the recent painful events, it was better than ever to have our little family back together. Somos bendecidos... we are blessed.