Zaruma to the BBC, adrenaline under the ground

Carolina Hidalgo, a student at the School of Social Communication at the University of Azuay, UDA, had the opportunity to report what happens in the underground galleries of her homeland, Zaruma.

Motivated by the team work together with her teacher Matías Zibell, she contributed with the video of expedition of the journalistic report 'Zones of exclusion: the attempt of the city of Zaruma to avoid the increase of the illegal mining exploitation', for the BBC of London .

 

 

The interest in journalism motivates this future graduate to participate in activities of her branch, so she has acted for more than a year as a correspondent of the establishment to which she belongs and that in the following week she will give her the title of communicator.

 

 

Within the school, his teacher Matías Zibell, a journalist by profession, encourages students to approach the activities of journalism when the situation arises, in this particular case, thanks to the request by the BBC to make a report of Zaruma, the work of teacher and student was merged.

 

 

Matías Zibell is in the world service of the BBC since 2002, working on several activities, among which his action as a war correspondent, correspondent in the Middle East, and as the first blogger on the page. www.bbcmundo.com. Currently, he teaches journalism in the UDA.

 

 

Within the requirements of the chain for which the teacher works, an approach to the Zarumeño soils was requested, and in classes the possibility of doing the report with the help of Carolina was discussed, due to its great capacity, as well as its ability to Manage the contacts that would provide the necessary permits and support for entering the observation areas.

 

 

It was authorized by the Ministry of Mines, and the ARCOM Mining Regulation and Control Agency, who, together with members of the GOE, accompanied the journalists inside Zaruma. 

The spaces visited are in a state of exception and are guarded by the danger that it means to the city and its inhabitants.

 

 

The objective of this material was to show what is happening under the soils of the cantons, in the case of Zaruma, given the emergency declared by the sinking of the school La Inmaculada, of 102 years of life, says Hidalgo.

He adds that another fundamental line to show was how the Sableros (a term that defines illegal miners in these sectors) manage to overcome the obstacles generated by ARCOM, bypassing the fillers and seals that act as bocaminas, as revealed by the video that discovers the existence of new tunnels. The reporter compares a hamster labyrinth with the mines observed, "for a large one there are many smaller ones," he says.

 

 

He still has the adrenaline that caused him to be many meters underground; and the moment when they arrived at the tunnel caused by the collapse of the school, observing the fact from below left her very satisfied with the experience from her role as student and early professional with great projection.

"Sharing with the students some of the interviews I do with the BBC, is a way to put into practice everything we see in class," Zibell concludes.