Quito- Ready-made effigies for sale for the New Year’s Eve tradition.
As people around the world honor customs to welcome the new year, I now realize how easy it is to get caught up in festivities while forgetting those who are recovering from somber challenges. Those people are surely anxious to say “Farewell” to the old year and embrace the new one with hopes for better times.
The word ‘resilient’ has popped up several times in the past week, and I know of no others more resilient than those on Ecuador’s coast who are still recovering from the April 16 earthquake.
Dec. 2016 – End-of-day break along the cleared banks of Rio Jama. Across the river, a collectivo taxi truck transports people to nearby El Matal.
The following footage is from a security camera at a cyber cafe in Canoa, Ecuador on April 16, at the moment the earthquake shocked the people of the area and blanketed the coastal-struck zone in darkness. Canoa is one of many towns between Bahia de Caraquezand Pedernales that received extensive damage from the terremoto. (Jama is located about midway between the two areas.)
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Jama Ecuador – Before the earthquake…That corner two-story building is gone..
Written four years ago, this post “New Year’s Traditions in Ecuador’ features Jama and the area in better times ‘ before the earthquake.’ I added comments (in blue) regarding changes in the photos. Join me in a tour of the old Jama, one with resilient people who are recovering, yet will forever be branded with memories of the April 16 Terremoto.
New Year’s Traditions in Ecuador
Saying ‘Goodbye’ to this old year will hopefully bring catharsis to many. There’s no better poster girl for adversity and resilience than our dear Pat. Her own tales of that night are quite sobering. Perhaps I can coax her into sharing her story, or perhaps it’s best – if those wounds have healed, that it remains sealed in 2016.
October 2015: Pat Godkin – Playa El Matal – Ecuador
Remembering my friends at La Division: Burn away the old and step into a new year!
To my lovely Jama Friends! (2014)
“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” -Charles Darwin
May 2017 be good to all!
Love,
Lisa
Zeebra Designs & Destinations 
A better year for the world than the last one is something to wish for. All the best to you and your friends, Lisa
Yes, amiga.. it’s been a very challenging year all the way ’round the world. May the new year’s day smile on you!
And on you, dear friend!
Hey! It’s late over there, isn’t it? (or very early!) It’s almost 7 pm here!
Just arrived in 2017!
I think that was a 6-hour difference… Happy Official New Year!
😚To you as well!
Echoing your heartfelt wishes for a better 2017 for so many. Happy 2017!
janet
Thank you, and may your 2017 smile on you!
The Darwin quote is spot on! We must bear that in mind. Happy 2017!!
Thank you Hugh! Happy New Year, and may those ‘bench warmers’ have a chance at glory, thanks to those cowards (?) that fear injuries! Enjoy the games!
My dear friend, this is our 6th year of celebrating New Years together. I have enjoyed your posts, photos, profound thoughts and thoughtfulness. Your creative spirit generates amazing and positive outcomes. You have given me my word for 2017. Resilience. Life is a miracle, with its hopes, dreams, tragedies – when we belong to a compassionate community, we develop strength and courage. I am glad that we are entering 2017 together, arm in arm. Let’s build resilience. Many hugs and lots of love!
You have such a great and kind heart, and thank you for your genuine words on this fresh start to the new year.
Resilience – thank you, and i will adopt it as my own word for 2017 as well. Perhaps we should both suggest that to our WP friends – that we all adopt it..
We are all threads in a magnificent tapestry – even when ours starts to unravel, others help stitch it back together. There are also very strong threads of importance, always present if not immediately seen. Your friendship is like one of those, and I equally cherish your presence in my life.
Here’s to a very positive 2017, one which is strong thanks to resiiencne!
What a great idea – I will share resilience in 2017. What a great opportunity for a life-affirming post. Many hugs and lots of love coming to you and all your marvelous family and friends.
Last year was a doozy, here’s hoping the New Year is a kinder one. Wishing you a joyous, laughter-filled 2017, Lisa. xxx Ailsa
Yes, it definitely was a doozy, and people worldwide will embrace this new doorway into 2017. May yours be filled with equally-joyous laughter…
Thank you! Lisa
I knew you would have a wonderful post about resilience! Here’s hoping that the new year is a tribute to the strength and fortitude of the people of Ecuador and it brings catharsis.
I was wondering if you know if Miguelito, the tortoise is safe? I have been thinking about that marvelous creature and his resilience.
Hola and Happy New Year! I hope that you and Ron said ‘Goodbye’ to a very-challenging 2016 and are happy to embrace hopes for a great 2017.
Thank you for your kind comment, and hopefully that catharsis will lift them even higher in spirit.
My time in Bahia was very brief, and I have not heard anything about Miguelito. Hopefully that means that ‘no news is good news.’
Happy New Year 2017, Lisa !
I wish you and all your Ecuador friends a year as quiet and peaceful as possible, allowing to recover from 2016 earthquake, and to get stronger and wiser.
best wishes from France, with love.
My dear Helene!
I often tell friends about a dear and sweet angel that watched over the earthquake-struck coast. It’s a comfort to know that you are always quietly in the background, discovering amazing things about our universe and watching over us in times of need.
Love to you and your loved ones, and a special New Year to you, Eric and Lise!
Thanks for all that you do for God’s creation, His people. Please have a blessed day.
Thank you for bringing present in our minds and hearts those whose New Year traditions are not possible because of adversity — war, natural disaster, severe weather or sudden life crisis. My prayer for 2017 is that Peace Prevail on Earth. For all sentient beings and our Planet. Blessed Be, Alia
Buenos dias, and Happy New Year! May your trails be rewarding ones as the days grow longer, and you adapt and embrace the new area you call home.. It will be interesting to hear your new stories! Thank you for your wishes for this New Year,
2016 brought a lot of pain and suffering to the world. Let’s hope for a peaceful 2017. Happy New Year.
Hey Creative One! Yes, it’s been a very challenging year world wide, and it would be nice for everyone to have a break from stress.
Thank you so much for your comment, and may your 2017 smile on you!
Thank you dear 😄😄 let’s make this 2017 a stellar year.
Wishing you a Wonderful Happy New Year Lisa.. I agree for many 2016 was a challenging year.. It puts life into perspective of often we take our blessings for granted.. Its not until we look around the world and see how others have had to cope do we give thanks for those blessings..
Your photo’s were lovely.. I wish you and your family a wonderful Happy Healthy, and filled with an abundance of Harmony where ever you go..
Love and Blessings
Sue xxx
A wonderful post Lisa, and so right for the ‘resilient’ challenge. I do hope these lovely people are allowed to be free of disasters for a very long time. A Happy and Peaceful New Year to you, and to them.
All the poetry over at my place inspired some of my readers, and a couple posted the ending of Tennyson’s “Ulysses.” I’ve come to really love this over the years, and there isn’t anything I could say that could convey my wishes for you, and your friends, any better:
The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks:
The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs: the deep
Moans round with many voices. Come, my friends,
‘T is not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.
It may be that the gulfs will wash us down:
It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.
Tho’ much is taken, much abides; and tho’
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
Much love, and many good wishes for a peaceful new year filled with creativity and healing.
Happy Happy New year Lisa!