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by Philipina A. Marcelo
October 12, 2010: The world waited, hoping against hope that the Chilean miners trapped in the bowels of the daunting mountains of the San Jose Gold and Copper Mine for a total of 69 punishing days emerged alive and well! The world paused to pray with the families of the trapped men for the meticulously planned rescue operation to work, and for the catastrophe to find a happy ending. The world watched in admiration as the rescue team, propelled by the Chilean President himself, Sebastian Piñera, focused to carry out a mission of intense importance - bringing back and restoring 33 lives on the surface of the earth, and therefore sending a wonderful message to the world that hope springs from the goodness in peoples' hearts, and that hope can turn into the most cherished results through teamwork.
The world held its breath as the first rescuer, Manuel Gonzalez, was lowered into the borehole leading to where the trapped men were by Phoenix - the metal capsule that was the main tool of the
Chilean rescue team. Reported to be approximately 21.5 inches in diameter, about 6 ft. and 4 inches tall, and weighed about 1,000 lbs, the capsule was able to hold a man, and an oxygen tank to sustain its passenger within the 20-minute rise to the surface, from more than 2,000 ft. below the ground. Phoenix had wheels on its outer wall that helped it slide through the hole as it was lowered and pulled up by a crane. Minutes after Mr. Gonzalez reached the trapped men, the world erupted in joyful celebration as the first of the miners emerged to the surface... alive and very well! Carried by the Phoenix that spooned the miners one by one to the surface, Florencio Avalos, emerged first to a great jubilation in the four corners of the world. And then, 22 hours later... the last of the trapped miners, Luis Urzua, who was also the shift supervisor in the lot that got trapped emerged to the surface via Phoenix, too. To borrow President Piñera's words, "like a ship's
captain", Mr. Urzua performed "his duty" until the very end by being the last to be freed from the darkness below the ground. The rescue team then unfurled a banner at the very pit that held the 33 men hostage for more than two months... the banner read: "Mission Completed, CHILE". It was as if to say, "wives and children, parents and siblings, friends and loved ones, here we return these men, our brothers, to you - these men whose lives are part of yours... so you may live long and happy lives with them. Mission accomplished!" And, indeed it was... and most wonderfully, too!***
It's a man's world... and that isn't just the engineer in me talking!
After getting used to having my TV time interrupted by "breaking news" on the Gulf War in the early 1990s... and later, by the 911 tragedy in New York City, the killings and assaults in Iraq, Darfur and Maguindanao, the Afghanistan insurgency, the power struggle in Pakistan and in Zimbabwe, and the seemingly unending bloodsheds between the Israelis, the Palestines and their neighbors, human and drug trafficking, not to mention that Wall Street greed-induced tremors that triggered the global economic downturn in the late 2007 and eventually led to the catastrophic collapse in 2008 - all orchestrated and participated in by powerful men... at some point I've been losing faith in the goodness in men's heart. In frustration, I asked myself once... is this all that men want: war and bloodshed, money and power, sex and instant gratification, dominance over one another? Isn't there love in their hearts, too? Isn't there goodness in their souls? Must they rule the world with guns and bullets, greed and unbounded ambition, pride and selfishness, lies and conspiracy, and with blatant disregard for innocent lives that are abruptly ended even before they bloomed? Have they no respect for human lives at all? And then the picture of the men at the head of the North Korean ruling dynasty flashed on TV... there's my answer! :(
While I find consolation in watching sports to keep reminding myself how men - some of the most beautiful at that - could actually use their impressive power - both
physical and mental - their admirable ability to focus on the prize of victory, and their natural, almost instinctive, flare for teamwork to dominate in non-violent and non-catastrophe-inducing avenues, and in absolutely inspiring ways, too, sometimes (never mind that they pick up fat checks for playing the part), the on-going interruptions of those "breaking news" usually cancelled my sports-induced reverie. While, ironically enough, most of the people I admire are men... the miners of San Jose, Chile and their rescuers painted an entirely different picture for me altogether.... Indeed, on that fateful day, 12th of October 2010, the Chilean men showed the world the value of teamwork and the genuine caring for one another, like they were each other's brothers, looking after each other... keeping the beacon of hope in places where there seem to be nothing else but darkness... helping one another to keep going through a collective desire to survive for the sake of their loved ones... risking and lending their own lives to the other in order to extend them rather than putting an end to them.
Ah, men are good after all. Love and goodness reside in their hearts - it is possible... how can it be not? The mere thought of it is beautiful - the way it should be! And, in their best moments, they are absolutely beautiful - the way they were meant to be... and capable of accomplishing impossible missions in awesome beauty!
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Photo credits and acknowledgement: (1) Phoenix: Getty Image, grabbed from Telegraph; (2) Chile Rescue Team "mission accomplished" - grabbed from CBBC-BBC News; (3) collage of Roger Federer, Cristiano Ronaldo, Rafael Nadal and Diego Forlan - individual photos grabbed from various sports and news websites.
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