INTERVIEW
THE DARIÉN GAP PROJECT Support worker Daniel Eggington shares with Simon Hope how, through a dangerous expedition, he will be raising awareness of a range of concerns in Colombia
A
LONG the Pacific coast of Colombia lies the Darién Gap, a swathe of dense rainforest considered to be the least explored part of the country because of its notorious past. It is well known for its dangers and illicit activities, but one man plans to travel 50 miles along its coast – alone. Daniel Eggington is a support worker at William Booth Centre Lifehouse in Birmingham. His job involves working with people who have experienced homelessness or prison, helping them to get back on their feet. In his spare time he’s also an explorer. Having already visited the Pacific coasts of Panama and Colombia, Daniel is acutely aware of the issues facing people in the area, and, in a bid to raise awareness of these issues, has decided to embark on a 50-mile trek from Colombia to Panama. ‘Along the Pacific coast of Colombia there are a lot of escaped slaves historically,’ Daniel explains, ‘and compared with other parts of the country there’s no economy, no education
system, no employment, no clean running water and a lot more crime. It’s policed by guerrillas, and their rules are the rules – nobody goes against them. Every person I’ve spoken to says it’s never the government that is involved – it’s either the military or the rebels. ‘The area needs more public awareness. You can ask most people about the Darién Gap and they wouldn’t have a clue where it was, and there are not a lot of resources on it either – not many maps, not much documentation at all. There have been a few documentaries where people have trekked the east coast, the Caribbean side, but no one ever crosses the Pacific side. ‘I’ll be primarily focused on human rights, trying to get the government to
support the people and reduce crime. Some of the stuff that you hear is dreadful. The Farc (the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) rebels are out of commission now but, because they were so powerful, there are lots of smaller groups out to take the power that the Farc originally had. ‘Say I own land out there. They would forcibly take it off me, or pay next to nothing, and if I were to go against it that’s it, decision made, and you get “disappeared”. That’s gone up by 14 per cent since the Farc peace treaty.’ As a way of raising awareness, Daniel will be trekking 50 miles from Juardó in Colombia, through the Darién Gap to Jaque in Panama. Throughout his journey he will be meeting the indigenous population to hear the stories of people who have experienced the effects of crime in their everyday lives. ‘I’ll be asking them about the situations they faced from the Farc when they were in power,’ Daniel says. ‘They’ve been through some terrible stuff. The Farc once blew up a church accidentally, which decimated a whole town. I’ll also be speaking to an ex-Farc rebel in Bogotá to find out about a person who used to be a guerrilla. I’ll be asking things like why they did what they did, why they stopped and what life is like now.’ Daniel will be following the Pacific coast north from Juradó and, along his 15 to 20-day trek, plans to visit many of the towns and indigenous villages. ‘If I’m in a town I’ll stay with the people
‘
There have been a few documentaries where people have trekked the east coast, the Caribbean side, but no one ever crosses the Pacific side 12
Salvationist 12 January 2019
’
