Nicol Garcia

November 16, 2020

Final Essay

Starting A New Life

            I never thought that I could lose everything overnight, but I learned that a united family could start a new life. About ten years ago years, there was a conflict between the Colombian government and the guerrillas, who were a group of bad people. In the beginning, many people supported them because they wanted justice. Their purpose was to be noticed by the Colombian government and tried to change it; they disagreed with a lot of corruption in our government. However, after some time, their idea changed. They started doing horribles things like kidnapping, stealing, threatening, and even killing to make justice on their own. Little by little they take the power doing wrong and horrible things to society. For this reason, they always passed through those towns asking for a monthly or even a weekly fee, but one day my parents did not have the complete payment to give them. So, they refused to pay. Therefore, the guerrillas gave us twenty-four hours to leave the town, or else they would kill us. My parents called the police, but that was the worst. The guerrilla stole all our possessions, and we arrived at the capital, Bogota with nothing. The guerrillas took everything from us, our peace, economic stability, and our belongings, but we learned to be more united as a family to get through every problem.

One of the effects of this situation was that my family to leave our home and our small market. Time was short and everything happened very quickly, we were not prepared to go to another city. That is why my father hired a man to take our things to Bogotá. While my mother tried to sell everything in the supermarket, my father was looking for someone to buy the old car. We needed money to get into a new apartment in the capital. When night came, we collected some money. Then we were sad and scared. With nostalgia, we said goodbye to our friends, neighbors, the old car, the house, and our life in Rondon.

The second effect was the guerrillas stopped the truck that had our belongings, and they stole everything. When we arrived in Bogotá, we had to wait for the man who had our things. Hours later, he arrived with an empty truck. The guerrillas stopped him, and they asked for the owners of the pertinence. Besides, he did not want to answer, so the guerrillas pointed a gun at his head. He had no choice but to tell them the truth. He just looked at how these people took out our things, and he thought about how to tell us that we had nothing. Undoubtedly, we were in a very terrible situation, my family and I were desperate. When we arrived in Bogotá, my grandmother let us stay with her for a few days 

Consequently, my parents and I had to work together as a family to start a new beginning. Three months later, my father started to work, and we found a new apartment. In the new apartment we just had a small mattress where my parents and I slept. Little by little, we bought the necessary things like a stove, bed, and pots and pans. After a few months, we adapted to our new lifestyle. I entered a new school where I made many friends, and my parents got a good job. Even though life was getting better, I missed our town.

In conclusion, the guerrillas in Colombia changed many Colombian as well as my family. We had to leave our home, and the guerrillas stole everything we had. In addition, I learned that everything happens for a reason, and start a new life is not too bad. We started a better life in Bogota, and my parents got a better job. Besides, I learned if there is a problem in the family, it can be solved. We eventually move forward. Since all this happened, my family is more united, and now we work as a team.