For this project I wanted to go a little more toward the experiences of a person's life, more specifically those of a young woman who, with many dreams and desires ahead, had to live an experience that for many of us is perhaps a nightmare. I want to present with much love and respect my project titled "Más allá de la memoria" (Beyond Memory)
One weekend at the beginning of 2010, as is customary in Latin American countries, Ximena visited one of her aunts with her family (father, mother, and brother) in her native Bogotá. When she arrives, she realizes that, in the living room, next to a gallon of alcohol, there is a lit candle, but without paying much attention and with the background of a religious country where it is common in houses to see images of saints with candles. Around her, Ximena enters her aunt's house to play with her cousins and brother while the older ones are in the living room drinking coffee and chatting. Without having much idea of the time elapsed or of the surrounding situation, the booming sound of an explosion was heard. Everyone present rushed to check what had happened, surprised that the proximity of the gallon of alcohol and the lit candle generated a very dangerous chemical cocktail that unleashed a wave of fire. Still, due to the chemical components of each element, this fire was almost imperceptible to the eye. Without realizing at what moment the flames could have reached her, Ximena's jacket caught fire, and as a completely normal reaction, she decided to run and leave the house, without considering that the oxygen generated by the speed of the fire increased; the whole neighborhood came out to help the family that was in this situation. The few memories that Ximena has in her head are that the people around her screamed in fright, but she did not see the magnitude of the situation; many neighbors tried to help her by giving her instructions to put out the fire until one of them yelled at her to get down on the floor, which in the end helped put out the flames that her body was carrying. She says that her awareness of the situation came to a head much later when she was already in the hospital, and her relatives were upset, although just like her, without really understanding what had happened.
After what happened, he began a tireless work of self-love and acceptance, seeing herself in the mirror every day, outlining with her gaze the marks left by the passage of the invisible fire, which in turn filled each new texture on her skin with compassion. Ximena has contacted several burn organizations, some specialized in women, where they want to call attention and raise awareness about the dangers we can run with something every day, but after 13 years, she dared and accepted my invitation to portray the beautiful reborn of his spirit and reflect the struggle that is transformed day by day, also to raise awareness among those who are prepared and demonstrate with love that life gives us battles that, although sometimes seem impossible, we are capable of winning.
