On Sunday 7th March, at 4:30 p.m. local time, an army barracks exploded in the city of Bata. According to official media, the explosions were caused by incorrect use of sensitive material. Bata is considered the economic lung of the African country, with the highest income per capita. Now, it has also entered the sinister log of heart-breaking events that splash the planet with increasing frequency.
Judo has also arrived in Equatorial Guinea and, in Bata, there are two dojos and more than one hundred judoka children. According to the president of the Equatorial Guinean Federation, José Nguema, "the families of the students are shocked, two children have passed away and we are looking for others." The other inmediate problem is that things as indispensable as a house and therefore, essential material for judo practice have been lost. Our consulted sources affirm that many houses have disappeared and numerous judogi have been charred by the flames.
This is not frivolous, quite the contrary, because in addition to being on the street due to the evaporation of their homes, they cannot take refuge inside a judogi either. The judogi is more than a work uniform, it is protection and an identity. Judogi is the tool through which a character is expressed and values are applied. These educational principles are crucial to being armed in the face of a harsh, sometimes cruel and occasionally deadly reality. At home you sleep and rest. The judogi is good for everything else, whether it is worn or not, because it is a second skin.
The secretary general of the federation, Juan Mba Sima, confirms that “we are helping the authorities as much as we can, offering food and clothing to those who have been left with nothing, be they judoka or not."
At the moment, because communications are not excellent and confusion reigns, the exact scope of the tragedy is unknown althought a lost life is always an irreversible catastrophe.