Ingrid Betancourt

I saw the interview on the BBC World this morning with Ingrid Betancourt who was rescued from her kidnappers, the FARC in Colombia. I have been following this story for some time as she was kidnapped while I was living and working next door in Ecuador. She gave an amazing interview and truly is an amazing lady following her ordeal. Latin America can be a very beautiful, but very dangerous place and it is hard for those who don't know it to understand what is going on there. Ingrid has moved to France for the time being as her safety cannot be guaranteed.
Safety is something we can take so much for granted, but in many countries there is no such thing. I had Colombian friends who explained to me the difficulties of living in Colombia where they could not travel by roads because of the threat of being kidnapped. I was very lucky in Ecuador where I travelled alone many times up and down from the Andes to the Coast on some notoriously dangerous roads in a car that often broke down and had no end of punctures. I was always told to drive straight through any road barriers and not to stop for anyone. Thankfully people always stopped to help me.
The locals here often ask me if I am not scared living in a deserted village, but for me here, there is a peace that never existed in Ecuador. A peace in feeling safe. Everyone should have a right to live in peace. If there is one thing I would like to create here it would be a refuge where people could find that little bit of peace that we all need.
There are still a lot of hostages in Colombia that are not free, several hundred for extortion and some for as long as a decade. Most of them from normal, everyday families. I hope that an end to this conflict can be found and those people may find their refuge. In the meantime if you get a chance to listen to this remarkable lady then do so. A Colombia Peace rally is to be held on July 20 around the world.