When the earth shakes in Colombia, not only do the foundations of mud, wood or cement tremble; the daily life of those who day by day build life with their own hands also trembles. On 10 August, a strong earthquake shook different regions and departments of the country, leaving in its wake irreparable losses, homes reduced to rubble, fractured roads and the deep pain of seeing the efforts of whole generations vanish in seconds.
Amid the anguish and dust that still settles, we look with special pain and closeness at the territory of Chocó. There, where the waters of the rivers mark the pulse of life and where historically Afro-descendant and indigenous communities have resisted structural abandonment and multiple forms of violence, this earthquake has hit particularly hard. Many Chocó families have lost everything: their homes, their belongings, their small means of subsistence and the tranquility of their nights. Territorial vulnerability becomes more visible when nature manifests itself with force, but the unbreakable dignity of a people who know what it means to resist and rise up collectively also becomes visible.
The material loss is immense, but the community fabric is still standing. In each neighbor who shares a plate of food, in the hands that help lift a fallen beam, and in the consolation murmured in the middle of the night, a spark of hope is lit that no aftershock can extinguish.
Today we join in a single clamor to ask our national and international solidarity network to raise their prayers, thoughts and actions for all the affected departments, directing an attentive and loving look towards our sisters and brothers of Chocó.
Pray together: ask for light, strength, and dignity
We invite you to join in this community prayer:
Divine presence, source of comfort, justice and life:
We put in your hands the families of the different departments of Colombia who today feel the emptiness in their chests after having lost their homes and their livelihood in this earthquake.
We pray in a special way for the communities of Chocó; for the grandmothers and grandfathers, guardians of memory, for the girls and boys whose eyes seek calm, and for the women and men who today remove debris with tired yet determined hands.
We ask you to pour out on every heart the strength necessary not to succumb to despair. In the midst of the darkness of the losses, may a clear light emerge that guides the steps of reconstruction and heals the fear left by the cracks in the earth.
May our prayer not remain in words: move us to active solidarity, to the demand for timely and just responses from the state, and to fraternal accompaniment that embraces without judging and accompanies without letting go.
May the tenderness and collective resistance of the people of Chocó and of all Colombia be the unshakable foundation on which life is reborn.
Amen.
