A year ago, the same group of students and teachers from IES Alto Jarama in Torrelaguna, Madrid, visited Paiporta and Algemesí, in Valencia, to offer help after the damage caused by the DANA storm. The experience left them with a deep impression of need and exhaustion among those affected.
Recently, some 4th-year ESO and Basic Vocational Training students in Forestry Exploitation traveled to Valdeorras, one of the areas most severely hit by last summer's fires. Upon approach, the landscape was stained black, especially where pines predominated, although on slopes with native vegetation, such as oaks and chestnuts, green began to re-emerge.
The village chosen for the intervention was San Vicente de Leira, belonging to the municipality of Villamartín de Valdeorras, where 90% of its surface was consumed by the flames. The sight of the destroyed stone blocks of the houses evoked a scene of bombardment, not just a fire.
“"And they asked us to speak about them in Madrid, you, who are closer to politicians, talk to them about us, they told us. And they also told us not to forget the rural areas. That's how they told us, the rural areas, because without the rural areas, as they said, there is no life in the city; because the best you have in the city comes from the rural areas."
In the village streets, small altars with everyday objects like tables, chairs, and cutlery paid homage to what once was and is no more. The students' presence managed to bring smiles to the tired faces of the residents. A municipal truck carried dozens of fruit trees, such as lemon, orange, and apple trees, which were distributed among the inhabitants to be planted in the fertile but damaged land.
The interaction between the teenagers and the retired residents was a moment of communion, where ages blended as holes were dug for the new trees. Later, at the social center, feelings of abandonment, helplessness, and destruction were shared, but also of hope, strength, and future. As a farewell, a resident, known as la Pepita, treated the group to homemade sugared doughnuts.
The residents asked the visitors to speak about their situation in Madrid, emphasizing the importance of rural areas for city life. The experience left the participants with the same sense of abandonment and exhaustion they had previously felt in Valencia, demonstrating that, beyond natural disasters, the emotions of those affected are similar.
