January 26, 2017 - The Madre India

January 26, 2017 - The Madre India

One of my favorite statues in Santa Cruz is the Madre India.  To me it looks like a giant waking up with her child in her arms and suddenly seeing the raging traffic of Santa Cruz.  It is so fittingly placed!

With a little research, I found the story behind this fascinating statue.  There are really two stories.

In 1812, while much of Latin America was in a war of independence against the King of Spain.  General Goyeneche assumed he had defeated the rebels in Cochabamba, but did not know that the women of Cochabamba had gathered on San Sebastian Hill in a last-ditched defense of their homes.  They were armed with sticks, saucepans, and small weapons; nothing compared to the horses, matchlock guns, and swords of the Spanish army.  They were slaughtered; women, children, and the elderly.

Bolivia celebrates the day, May 27^th, as Mother’s Day. 

The Santa Cruz mayor, Fernando Sattori, in 1978 decided to pay homage to these women by commissioning a statue.  A young sculptor, David Paz Ramos, was commissioned to complete the statue.  But he was not sure how to express the emotions of the women defending their homes.

One day he was riding his noisy motorcycle past the Cathedral.  Lately Ayore migrants had been living along the side of the Cathedral, unable to find any other place to live.  As he sped by, he noticed one woman, protectively, and angrily, holding her child who was scared by the noise of the unfamiliar motorcycle.  She would fight to the death to protect her child.  The image shocked the sculptor, but he realized this was his statue.

Four months later, the image was unveiled on the intersection of the Second Ring and Avenida Argentina.

She is still there and still protecting her child.

Isaiah 49: 15, 16 – Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne?  Though she may forget, I will not forget you!  See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.