Concepcion Fires – Responders

Concepcion Fires – Responders

Background

During our visit to Concepcion, Chile one of the worst wildfires in decades, destroying thousands of homes. The community rallied together and responded with needed aid for their neighbors. This is the fires’ story:

The Fire

Around the affected areas, all the church houses, playground and many parking lots were filled with donated essential supplies. Water, food, fuel, clothing, and bedding were there for those who lost everything. The cities of Lirquien and Penco had over 50,000 homes burned, with 80 percent of the city lost in the fire. The fire consumed the wilderness surrounding the city, but the firemen fighting the flames day and night for days, turned the progression to keep it away from the most populated parts of Concepcion, some few hundred meters away from the city edges.

The community came together, with many realizing they were the only support people would get. Regardless of government or nonprofit organizations ability to provide aid, the local citizens knew they would be far short of the needs and stepped in to help out in any way they could. Hundreds of stories of heroic donations, evacuation assistance and support setup came flooding through. One particularly shared story was a young man who carried a paraplegic on his back to escape the flames, leaving with just the clothes on his back. He ended up losing everything he owned, left behind in the apartment consumed in the fire.

Perspective

Life can be short and unpredictable, in an instant things that seemed so important can fade in a life and death situation. Often these situations bring a perspective focused on the essential instead of the mundane. The community surrounding Concepcion came together to lift and support each other in such difficult times and found a new perspective on life.

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Consuelo – The City Planner

Consuelo – The City Planner

Background

Consuelo is a city planner who enjoys practicing his English with native speakers. This is his story:

Dailey Life

Consuelo lives north of Santiago and took a vacation with his family, his two daughters and pregnant wife, along with his brother and his family, to the Botanical Hot Springs in Pucon. His daily life consists of working as a city planner mainly responsible planning the healthcare facilities in his home city.

He loves taking opportunities to teach his children, whether that is teaching them english or teaching them life skills.

His Perspective

Life is about leaving a legacy, teaching the next generation how to improve the world around them. He’s a planner, for his job and for his future and the future of his children.

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Theresa – The Multinational Family

Theresa – The Multinational Family

Background

Theresa is all about family and learning about countries and cultures. This is her story:

Dailey Life

She is an open and forward woman who is always looking to make an international connection. She loves to talk to those from other countries and share her experience with her family who lives all over Chile, Germany and Italy. She’s the oldest sibling and has so much pride in her family and family life.

Spending the day at the Los Saltos Del Laia, with some locally sourced honey from a nearby vendor, Theresa loves to make recommendations to others. She enjoys showing people around her area of Chillan in Chile and is outgoing enough to reach out and help, even if not asked.

Her Perspective

Family is the focus of her life. Her pride and joy all centers on family and being able to claim an international immediate family brings her so much fulfillment, thinking how far her one family can stretch and how many lives they could all impact. Life is a focus on family and service for Theresa and she finds joy in the human connections she can make.

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Fernando – The Volcanologist

Fernando – The Volcanologist

Background

Fernando lives as a tour guide in the lava tube tunnels on the slopes of the Villarrica Volcano. This is his story:

Dailey Life

For over 10 years Fernando has been working as a guide in Pucon, touring the underground caves formed by lava flows of an active volcano. He enjoys sharing his knowledge of volcanic activity and how each rock, tube and cave was formed with the pressure of ice and lava.

Being so passionate about his subject and research, he gains so much from sharing facts he’s taken a decade to study and understand.

His Perspective

Life is about passion and focus. When you find something that gets you excited that you want to tell the world about it, you have found your calling and mission in life. Focus on it and you’ll live life to the fullest.

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Carlo – The Parking Guide

Carlo – The Parking Guide

Background

Carlo lives in Pucon, Chile, a small town known as a vacation hot spot for tourists and Chileans alike. This is his story:

Dailey Life

As an older man with a helpful disposition, Carlo takes pride in help visitors at his park. He is a simple parking guide and helps guests find a parking spot at Erase Una Vez, or Once Upon a Time. He’s eager to talk to people about this unique park with hundreds of stories on display about every fairytale and adventure you can think of. He loves to see the children come out of the cars excited to embark on this short, but exciting adventure into story land.

Carlo gains meaning in life through being helpful and going above and beyond to guide parents and children through Erase Una Vez.

His Perspective

Life is story and we’re are the characters. We can decide how and what we learn as well as what we become. Carlo has a simple job, yet he takes so much pride in doing it well, that it can mean so much more to him as he guides people through an storybook experience that they won’t soon forget.

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Prasilia – The Working Mother

Prasilia – The Working Mother

Background

Prasilia is a mother to a 4 year old with her second child coming in two days. This is her story:

Dailey Life

She works as an insurance broker and often gets chances to improve her English with native speakers through her work. Yet balancing her life as a mother and working is never easy. Luckily she has the flexibility of working her own hours and typically from home.

Prasilia spends most of her time lately at the pool to help relieve the pain of her final days of pregnancy. She lives just out of downtown Concepcion and at the time of wild fires so close to the hospital she plans to give birth at in a few days, there’s a lot of uncertainty in her future.

Her Perspective

She loves taking opportunities and chances as they come. Even though she’s a working mother, she prioritizes her family and children. She feels they are the real meaning and purpose of life.

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Alejandro – The Ocarinist

Alejandro – The Ocarinist

Background

Alejandro is from Nagales and travels around the country and continent showcasing his ceramic instruments. This is his story:

Dailey Life

For more than 20 years of his life, Alejandro has been making ceramic ocarinas and flutes. His instruments are not only an artistic expression of his use of surgeon like precision, but also showcase his musical abilities. As the creator of each instrument, he knows intimately how to play each item to make the most unique and creative sounds.

He is full of energy and can often be seen with the children in the market, dancing and playing his flute. Some of the instruments can play all kinds of notes and tunes, others are designed to look and sound like exotic animals. From a jaguar’s growl to a snake’s hiss, his instruments have quite the range.

His Perspective

Being able to put his work on display at the Annual Modern Art Festival in Concepcion, is a continued tribute to his able to create art both in the design and sound of his instruments. Enjoying life is his motto and enjoying the moments we have, because life is all too short to be focused on the stress of things out of our control.

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Lasirena – The Basket Weaver

Lasirena – The Basket Weaver

Background

Lasirena is a older woman in her late 70s. Every day she comes out to the central park in Coelemu to sell handmade grass baskets and trinkets. This is her story:

Dailey Life

For more than 20 years of her life, Lasirena has worked on her talent of grass weaving. She takes pride in her work and even in a small town of less than 16,000 people with very few tourists, she dedicates time every day to display her work. She feels it as a passion or a hobby for her more than a job. She makes most baskets in just under an hour from start to finish.

She has lived in the same small town her entire life. Some family is close by, with her own grandkids living with her. Yet some family, such as her sister living in California, she never expects to see again. Her life instead focuses on her work and perfecting her weaving.

Her Perspective

After 20 years of making thousands of baskets, Lasirena believes what’s most important in life is finding something you love that you can excel in. She feels being passionate about your daily life and the things you can do every day, make all the difference in lasting happiness.

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Medi – The Home Owner

Medi – The Home Owner

Background

Medi has lived in the same house, with her father who built it, and her kids and now grandkids and soon great grand kids. The home and the family have been central to her life. This is her story:

Dailey Life

Her father built the home in 1973 and they have been living there as a family ever since. This one home and being a home owner in the small town of Coelemu, has given her family the opportunities they needed to make a living. The size and design of the house allows for consistent renters, providing a consistent income in a family where the men have proven to live short lives. Both her father and her husband died young and left the women of the family to make ends meet.

She has two daughters who have one child each, making up her grandchildren who are now teenagers and almost ready to start families of their own. She talks of family as the main focus of her life, and the home being the center place of refuge. Even as a wild fire rages next to her backyard, she doesn’t want to evacuate and leave the home where she’s lived her entire life.

Her Perspective

With a focus on home and family, Medi has built the foundation of her life on those two pillars. There’s been ups and downs and challenges as every family goes through, but her home has become an “encanto” and a refuge this family has come to rely on for years.

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Marcelia – The Reserved Roadside Store Owner

Marcelia – The Reserved Roadside Store Owner

Background

Marcelia is a quiet, yet helpful shop owner in the middle of nowhere on the path to the Radal National Park in Chile. This is her story:

Dailey Life

As a store owner in an obscure location, Marcelia mostly keeps to herself and doesn’t spend much time around others. She has her dog with her and has a reserved personality, where she doesn’t feel a need to overshare about herself. She lives a quiet life that meets her needs and she tends to not dream of more.

Marcelia feels comfortable staying where she is and doesn’t have that wanderlust many feel in their lives. She has what she needs and finds contentment in living her quiet life, without excess and without major want.

Her Perspective

The simple life can be perfect for someone who is seeking contentment. When you have what you need, and want what you have, you never find yourself without. Far away from a busy city and the hustle and bustle of constant customers, Marcelia is able to find a perspective of fulfillment in what she knows, without venturing much into the unknown.

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