In English: Sechu

I was 12 years old, and that year was a good one. I mean, my dad made enough money to pay the bills and even save some money to take us on vacation. 

 

A family trip to Bariloche. Driving an old truck, the same that my dad used for delivering cleaning supplies to restaurants and factories. It had a cabin on the front for three people (mom, dad, and my eldest sister) and a closed trailer with small windows behind, where 8 of my siblings (plus me) were lying down on a mattress. Seat belts? Seats!? Nothing. 

 

At this point, you may be adding-up and realizing, "WHAT!? A family of nine children!!!" Wrong. The tenth arrived a few years later: Luli, our favorite one. Yeah, yeah, my parents didn't have a TV at home...there was no Netflix back then...(and so many comments I've heard these years).

Anyway, back to my story. We left home at 4 am. My parents would drive +1600 kilometers (~1000 miles!) in a single stretch. Adding a stop, went way beyond our holidays' budget. The only possible communication channel between the cabin and the trailer were two small sliding windows, and you had to open both if you wanted to hear each other. 

This was our route to Bariloche.

Cutting a long story short, we were three hours away to our final destination, and after insisting for hours from the trailer, my parents agreed to make the last stop. Brakes! Everybody down, quickly. Bathroom. Go. Ten minutes later, we realized Sechu, our second-youngest at that time, was missing. 

 

Oh no! Mom, dad!!! Sechu was left behind!!!!! We couldn't scream louder; we almost crushed the window that separated us from them. Our hands and throats were hurting after ten minutes shouting and knocking. My dad was driving and thinking: "Once again! We just stopped, and we won't stop again!" And he began waving his hand, meaning "NO, we won't stop". Then my dad lost his patience and stopped the old red Toyota truck. The car brakes screeched. He came directly to kill us, but when he realized the situation, he shouted to us: "How come you didn't tell us sooner?!?!" Exactly.

 

We drove back to the gas station, and Sechu was there, waiting for us, sitting down on a bench, alone, and holding back tears. And the story continues. 

Sechu got back in the truck, but this time, my eldest sister gave Sechu her place in the front seat. We all were feeling sorry for him. It was very late at night, and we still had to drive three hours more to arrive at the house where we were going to stay. 

The issue was that my dad when he was negotiating the rent, told the landlord that we were a family of five (imagine it, nobody would agree to rent a house for a family of nine children!!!).  

So a few kilometers before arriving, we stopped in the middle of nowhere, and the four older children (myself included) had to drop off the car, and wait until the rest of my family checked in, and my dad drove back to pick us up! That was around 2 a.m. 

Crazy but yet, happy times.

This story taught us a big lesson. We need to really care about each other. We can't leave anyone behind! We need to be alert and make sure others are ok (and with us!).

 

I think that during these times we need to pay special attention to our colleagues. Some of them are going through tough and challenging situations. Some of them are lonely, others overwhelmed. Many far away from their friends and families. And we all need to take care of ourselves, as a family. Make a call. Have a chat. Ask them how are they feeling. I believe we have to live and promote Ubuntu, and make sure no Sechu is waiting for us a few miles behind.