RN42062023

STORY:

Four children including a baby who spent over a month alone in the Amazon following a plane crash have been found alive.

The siblings, who were found wandering the Colombian jungle on Friday 9th June 2023, were the only survivors of a May 1, 2023 plane crash that left every other passenger, including their mother, Magdalena Mucutuy Valencia, dead, CNN reported.

According to the outlet, Colombian President Gustavo Petro said that the children Lesly Jacobombaire Mucutuy, 13, Soleiny Jacobombaire Mucutuy, 9, Tien Ranoque Mucutuy, 4, and infant Cristin Ranoque Mucutuy survived like “children of the jungle.”

Petro added that the youngsters, who were still together when they were discovered, were able to survive for 40 days in the Amazon because of “their learning from indigenous families and their learning of living in the jungle,” per CNN.

He also said that their time in the jungle was an example of “total survival that will be remembered in history.”

Until Friday, the search only recovered clues like footprints and a dirty diaper. The Colombian Defense Ministry said in a tweet, however, that it “never stopped looking for them until the miracle came.”

Petro also said that upon their discovery, the children were very weak and in need of food, the most important thing now is what the doctors say,” he continued, “Their health condition must have been stressed. We need to check their mental state too.”

On Saturday the 10th of June 2023, the children were taken to the Military Transport Air Command in Bogotá, Colombia’s capital city, on an air ambulance, where they received evaluations from medics on board, per BBC.

Source: peoples.com

SENSES (Child Safeguarding and Protection Principle):

When an emergency hits, be it a natural disaster or protracted conflict situation, children are often the most seriously affected.

It had been over a month since the plane crashed however the Columbian continued to intensify efforts towards searching for these children until they were found. The Collaborative efforts made by the government and the military operatives in search of the children went a long way towards ensuring that they were rescued.

They never gave up the search, as a nation we must at all time understand that every child matters.

`Children are like buds in a garden and should be carefully and lovingly nurtured, as they are the future of the nation and the citizens of tomorrow (Jawaharlal Nehru).

The story highlights the vulnerability of children in emergency situation and the need for effective search and rescue operation when the need arises. In this case the military led operation was critical in the locating and rescuing the children from the jungle. 

From the story we could see that the resilience and survival instincts of the children exhibited when faced with this horrifying experience helped them survive in the jungle until they were rescued. 

Many years ago, wilderness survival skills were necessary for life. Today, although wilderness survival skills are not necessarily essential for everyday life, they are still good to know for emergency situations. In an emergency, previously acquired skills can mean the difference between life and dearth.

Below are some survival skills we could teach our precious children:

• Shelter Building
• Water Purification
• Wilderness First Aid
• Plant Identification
• Fire Lighting
• Evacuation plan in cases of emergency 

STONE: (Call to action):

Children’s reactions to emergencies fluctuate depending on age, temperament, genetics, pre-existing problems, coping skills and cognitive competencies, and the dose of the emergency. Although most children are said to recover over time, if emergency reactions are left untreated, they can have a significant adverse impact on children’s social, emotional, behavioral and physical development.

As a Child-Focused Organization we call on the Columbian government to ensure that these precious c children have access to adequate health care and psychological support to enable them recover from the effects of the traumatic experience they went through. 

The need to equip our children with survival skills cannot be overemphasized as primary and secondary parents. That is why we must at all times anticipate their needs and threats to them and make adequate preparations to meet these needs and mitigate threats to them.