Bogota,10 June (City Times): Four Indigenous children survived for 40 days in the Colombian Amazon by consuming seeds, roots, and plants that they had been taught were edible. And the fact that they were ultimately discovered alive was in part due to the local knowledge of Indigenous adults who were participating in the search alongside Colombian troops. According to the National Organization of Indigenous Peoples of Colombia (OPIAC), “the survival of the children is a sign of the knowledge and relationship with the natural environment that is taught starting in the womb.” On May 1, a small plane crashed, killing the pilot, their mother, and a third adult. The children’s family held onto the hope that their siblings’ familiarity with the jungle would sustain them.
The “children of the bush,” as their grandfather referred to them, survived by scavenging relief packages dropped by search helicopters and eating the yucca flour that was on the downed plane. However, Luis Acosta of the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC) told that while they were growing up in the Amazon, they also ate seeds, fruits, roots, and other plants that they considered to be edible.
“Spiritual force” Acosta claimed that the children were endowed with “spiritual force” while participating in the search efforts. That is a common insight among Native pioneers, and Acosta noticed that a gatekeeper was to be posted external the tactical emergency clinic where specialists were taking care of the kids to assist with going with them “profoundly.” We have a specific association with nature,Javier Betancourt, another ONIC pioneer, told AFP. ” To help people like the Indigenous people who live in the jungle and care for it, the world needs this special relationship with nature. For 20 days, soldiers and Indigenous trackers collaborated on the search. According to President Gustavo Petro, the meeting of Indigenous and military knowledge demonstrated respect for the jungle.
Army helicopters broadcast recordings of the children’s grandmother instructing them to remain still until rescuers arrived in the indigenous Huitoto language. Acosta told the local media that “President Petro brought us together,” referring to soldiers and Indigenous experts. In an underlying gathering, eight days before our hunt started, the president let us know we expected to go with the military in light of the fact that the military couldn’t do it single-handedly,” he added.
A winning combination In what was called “Operation Hope,” around 100 soldiers were joined by more than 80 volunteers from Indigenous territories in the departments of Caqueta, Putumayo, Meta, and Amazonas. It was a rare combination of forces. In a considerable lot of Colombia’s Native domains, outfitted ban bunches wander and effectively pressure local people groups, who safeguard their territories with simple weapons. Relations between Native people group and the military are likewise stressed.
However, in the Guaviare division, heros from discrete gatherings put their disparities to the side to cooperate. Native searchers used mambe, a paste made of coca leaf and ash, and chirrinchi, a fermented drink, to communicate with jungle “spirits” while soldiers planned operational details.
Utilizing blades, hero,s felled trees and stamped them with shower paint to direct the youngsters. In addition, indigenous medicine was used to deal with scratches, splinters, insect bites, exhaustion, and physical pain in order to adapt to the difficult jungle conditions. “Worked in the rain, in storms, and in many difficult situations, but always with the hope and spiritual faith that (the children) could be found,” Acosta stated of the indigenous people. All of this culminated in an Indigenous tracker finding the siblings in an unexplored region.
