Thrity-four
years later we heard about the woman that a Dutch citizen was looking for
desperately. In 2005, Cristina Molina emailed her story to our editor in order
to seek her biological mother. Back then in 1978, in the days when Julio
Jaramillo (in Spanish nicknamed “Ruiseñor de América” – the Nightingale of the
Americas-) was mourned by the whole city of Guayaquil, two stories saw their
beginnings –those of a grandmother and her granddaughter- in two different
hospitals.
It is there
where fate would decide their separation. Sitting next to her crutches in the
corner of the streets of Chimborazo and El Oro, in the south of Guayaquil,
Jacinta Santillán recalled that back then she went to León Becerra Hospital
with her one-month-and-a-half old daughter in order to receive medical
attention due to the baby’s severe intestinal infection (which she acquired
because of her mother’s negligence). Jacinta had to leave the baby there since
she had to take care of her sick mother at the Luis Vernaza Hospital in Guayaquil.
DAUGHTER’S
DESTINATION: THE NETHERLANDS
In spite of
her poverty, Jacinta pointed out that she attempted to fulfill with both
duties, but in the end she was not able to and due to her lack of monetary
resources she left her daughter to the medical staff. No sooner than a
fortnight had she lost track of her baby already and had no clue whatsoever on
where to start looking. The idea that the baby was kidnapped came across her
mind and so, thinking on her mother’s issue, she had to give up on seeking for
her girl and just look forward to the miracle of finding her eventually.
Later on,
sources pointed out that Jacinta’s daughter was given to an orphanage where a
Dutch couple adopted her upon their arrival in the city looking for a baby.
This obviously meant a final separation of mother and daughter. Filled with
sorrow, this woman was unable to overcome such trauma and little by little fell
as a victim of depression. Without chances of obtaining employment, she ended
up as a beggar on the streets in order to survice.
A LIGHT AT
THE END OF THE TUNNEL: HOPE IS REBORN
34 years
later, in a corner of the old building of the University of Guayaquil, Lily
Lindao found this woman and decided to take her to a restaurant to later have
her as a guest at her house so as to somehow relieve the poor woman of her
painful situation. Little did Lily know about the story this lady kept in her
heart.
Thus,
Jacinta lets Lily know of the twinge of a mother without hope of finding her
daughter and the reason of why she lived in the streets. Her tears are still
wet on her cheeks as she takes out a piece of newspaper containing a feature
story from 2005 in Diario Extra in which a Dutch girl was looking for her
biological mother in Ecuador.
This
newspaper story is actually Jacinta’s most prized possession due to the fact
that it is the living proof that her daughter, whom she thought long dead, was
alive and that it seems she is a good person.
After
retelling her story, this 60-year-old woman kept a copy of this snip on the
feature story mentioned above, which she obtained at the City Hall Library.
Today there
is a light at the end of the tunnel for Jacinta, as hope is given by her firm
belief that God will let her once more kiss the face of her abandoned child 34
years ago, whom she was going to name Cristina Sanchez Santillan. Meanwhile,
the streets will continue seeing her as a beggar as she awaits for the big day
of her ultimate happiness: the joy of reuniting with her long-lost daughter.
