The assistance in these hours to rescue the miners of Chile, inevitably reminds us of our recent experience with our fellow Desert Therapy travellers in Bolivia, when we went into the mines of Potosi and we saw with our own eyes the terrible living conditions of the young men, sustained by the hope of discovering a vein of minerals that would change their lives. Coca leaves and 96 degree alcohol help them endure the terribly hard work for eight hours a day between dust and darkness, with the constant danger of a sudden collapse.
Personally, I never doubted that the Chilean miners would survive: after knowing the reality of men working in similar conditions, circumstances permitting, salvation was just a matter of time. Already accustom to a life of darkness and hope, people of their physical and mental strength can withstand a test that to others seems impossible. The labyrinth of tunnels, chasms, humidity and darkness that for us were almost frightening, for them is a daily workplace where they spend most of their brief, terrible lives in the hope of a better life.
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