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communities uniting to fight crime, jama ecuador community, jama marcha blanca ecuador, marcha blanca por la paz, wearing white for peace
Locals in Jama Ecuador sent a message to thieves. You’re not wanted here!
Jama Ecuador (Manabi) 28 April 2013
The people of Jama Ecuador have always cherished the lack of crime in their town; children roam the streets, leave their bicycles parked near a front door and meander inside without fear of someone stealing their wheels. People peer from upstairs windows and watch the passersby. A few old timers ride their horses or burros into town on weekends to trade their produce and purchase supplies to take back to their farm. Cattle patrol the streets late at night.
Til the Cows Come Home
A Mayberry RFD atmosphere permeates the town, and one wouldn’t be surprised to find Barney Fife scratching his head while he ponders who tied the bull to the gazebo in the center of the park! Gomer would feel right at home repairing the ancient vehicles that share the streets with the latest model cars and trucks. Bicycles are popular modes of travel here, as are mototaxis and motorcycles. Neighbors swap stories around street corners or sidewalk tables or play chess or dominoes.
The coastal highway skirts around Jama, although last year a road construction detour routed all traffic through town. Ironically, burglaries increased, which tapered off after traffic no longer detoured through town. Recently several businesses were robbed during the night, and the residents of Jama aren’t happy about escalating crime.
I wasn’t surprised when the locals organized their community MARCHA BLANCA POR LA PAZ, a white march for peace. This impromptu march addressed the question, “What are we going to do about this?”
Walk with us on this MARCHA BLANCA POR LA PAZ and see if you think that Barney and Gomer would feel at home in Jama!
Doc and Silvana tested my Spanish skills with this sign, which addresses the president and the mayor and asks for security and peace for our families. .
With wide eyes, I chuckled and asked Doc, “You don’t want extranjeros here?”
He peered at the sign and explained that they didn’t want illegals crossing the border from Columbia here!
I did not know what SICARIATO meant, and he put his index finger to his temple and made the sound of a gun! No murders, please!
The kind Doctor removed the word ‘extranjeros’ from his poster so that no one else misunderstood his message!
The participants gathered in front of the church.
Everyone transferred to the upper end of Jama Avenue.
Shall we begin?
LET’S MARCH!
Compared to other cities in the province, Jama has always scored extremely low on the crime index. The locals want it to stay that way!
Sometimes people shrug and give flimsy excuses for not participating in community events. Note the affection between these three!
This dear blind woman walked the entire distance with her daughter. What an amazing example she makes!
Whistles, chanting and horns punctuated the march!
The march ended in front of the police station, where many shared their thoughts about crime.
No more crime!
Everyone agrees; crime is not welcome in Jama!
Zeebra Designs & Destinations 
Reblogged this on Oyia Brown.
Reblogged this on The ObamaCrat.Com™ and commented:
Wear White For Peace!! Thank you Ms. Z.
A lovely community spirit. Our local library blog reminded me that on 30 April 1971, six thousand of us protested against the Vietnam War and specifically New Zealand’s participation in it. I remember being in that march so well; it is empowering to be with a group that is united in one aim.
How beautiful that you had the backbone ‘way back when,’ and stood up for what was right! Some were disappointed that more people didn’t show up, but we had less than a day’s notice, and I think the next one will have greater support.
Thanks so much for your feedback!
Lisa/z
That’s a great turnout for one day’s notice.
We are experiencing a similar phenomena here. There are more corporations moving to our area, bringing in so many from other states. Not all of them are on the “up and up.” Crime: burglaries, theft, shootings, stabbings, murder, have all increased in the 5 years we have been here.
The same thing happened to Santa Eleana and Monte Verde in CR when they paved the road leading up the mountain.
I am glad to see that the peoples of Jama are standing together against this! UNITED WE STAND.
yes; do you remember the bank robbery in monteverde? that was a shocker – a wake-up call.
it’s sad to see when people resort to theft. i hope that the bad guys are long gone from jama.
z
I actually didn’t hear about that!! But I knew about the rise in theft. Funny thing, in close knit communities, they usually know who the culprit is, and go after them right away! Not so easy when it’s out of towners. 😦
Yes, I hope they are gone too!
Hi Lisa,
The photos are telling, love them! May Mayberry meet your town once again with a peaceful clash. The cows in the road pic is the best for me, so friendly looking! Have a lovely day and please keep us posted! Thanks for sharing! Susan
hey
thanks so much; i’m glad that you enjoyed the post. jama reminds me of how life was when i was growing up. syrupy and relaxed, and the biggest danger was probably a moccasin staying cool beneath a boat pushed up on the shore! we have field peas and ‘butter’ beans, and smelling them while shelling them is like going back in time! i love it when i see the cows roaming the streets at night!
muchas gracias for your feedback!
z
My heart goes out to the ones who were robbed. The realization of something happening like that in a small, beautiful town like Jama is so sad. The way the people gathered together with such a short notice, just shows what a wonderful community Jama really is. Thank you for sharing the “community spirit of Jama” ..Great, but sad and yet a positive post Lisa.
Hugs, Hummingbird
uh-oh, hummingbird! you peeked your energetic head into this post, and everyone is going to be asking, ‘where’s barb?’
hope all is going well! several people have asked about ‘bar-bar-ah’ – they have a poetic way of saying your name!
siempre,
lisa/z
Interesting – yours is the second post this morning that referenced Mayberry. The other came from the Annapolis/DC area – certainly as far fromo Mayberry as can be, at least in some regards.
You can’t measure participation only by those who walked. The watchers count too – they are equally important. I was thinking about the fellow in the wheel chair. In the Mayberries of the world, people like him play a very important role. Like the homebound who peek from behind their curtains and the women sitting on their front porches, their “watching”, day in and day out, often makes them the ones who know what’s really happening, who the strangers are and what mischief they might be up to.
It was a wonderful event – thanks for sharing!
buenos dias! isn’t it interesting when several posts reflect the same tone? i noted that several times lately on some other blogs as well.
i love that old man in the wheelchair! he has a little ‘chin-up’ bar on a post, and his hands/grip are strong!
you’re right; those are the ones who have their fingers on the pulse of the town.
thanks so much for your feedback!
lisa/z
This makes my heart soar. Z, thanks for sharing this wonderful community with us.
wouldn’t it be great if all communities did this several times a year. it would be one way the neighbors could meet the neighbors. people zip themselves away too much these days… they’re losing their social skills of reaching out and saying, ‘hi! i love four houses down from you, and i love that pot of geraniums that smiles at your doorstep.’
My family loved this story and pictures. Thanks again, BTG
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So beautiful to see everyone walking along dressed in white. You really captured the wonderful community and the individuals in it with your photos.
No mas! Again, wonderful photographs. What a great little community that cares for its members…
I think they’ve touched on the secret. Nip it in the bud AS SOON as it starts. What a great group of crime-fighters. They are giving peace a chance before it gets out of control. I hope the best for Jama.
What a beautiful thing to do will tell my friends about this who knows maybe we will get them to do this too, great pictures amiga and what beautiful community good for the no mas!
that would be great if your friends sent the message, no mas!’ it is better than apathy!
The best part is that they kindly removed the word extranjeros from the poster so that there wouldn’t be any misinterpretation. Also, I think I recognized some extranjeros joining in the march. 🙂 They said that they were referring to Colombians. Oh why can’t we transcend borders? Colombians vs Ecuadorians, Ticos vs Nicas, Mexicans vs the USA.
yes, i thought that was very kind of the doctor to remove that part of his sign. i thought of the costa rica/peru dysfunction as well.. you are so right! when ivo uquillos introduced me at the second inaguration of the mola series, he touched on that based on a discussino we’d had earlier that day.. the precolumbian indians knew no borders and were free to trade up and down the pacific coast, which is why some of the artifacts i’ve seen on ometepe look very similar to others i’ve seen in guatemala and in ecuador! ‘they knew no borders…’
wouldn’t it be nice if the borders were removed again? i inhale deeply… too many egos.. too many rules.. it would be too easy if eveyrone lived in harmony!
yes, i thought that was very kind of the doctor to remove that part of his sign. i thought of the costa rica/peru dysfunction as well.. you are so right! when ivo uquillos introduced me at the second inaguration of the mola series, he touched on that based on a discussino we’d had earlier that day.. the precolumbian indians knew no borders and were free to trade up and down the pacific coast, which is why some of the artifacts i’ve seen on ometepe look very similar to others i’ve seen in guatemala and in ecuador! ‘they knew no borders…’
wouldn’t it be nice if the borders were removed again? i inhale deeply… too many egos.. too many rules.. it would be too easy if eveyrone lived in harmony!
I was expecting to see this post Lisa, this is great!!! Sicariato means when somebody kills to get pay for that!!! I was not agree with the Doc but he did it right to delete that word. There was a murder a month ago in Jama and apparently a Colombian guy was guilty but We can´t tell all of them are guilty… I hope Doc think about it next time :)….Nice post
wow; i did not hear about the murder! so was it an ‘assasin’ – someone paid someone else to murder someone? that is way too close to home. did they catch the man? so many questions, but i will wait til i see you for the answers..
apparently someone paid for the murder, it was close to Don Juan. yeah I better tell you later
A wonderful display of community spirit. And yes we all need to do this periodically. ‘Until the cows come home’ is my favourite shot of the lot 🙂
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