An Angel for the Dead: Sonia Bermúdez and the Cemetery “People Like Us”

Abstract

In 1997, Sonia Bermúdez created the cemetery and foundation People Like Us to fulfill what she believes is God’s command: to help others. Sonia is a professional thanatologist who lives in the Colombian Department of La Guajira, in the desertic northeast region, bordering Venezuela, on the Caribbean Coast. At her graveyard, she buries the No Name, N.N., the victims of the country’s multifaceted violence, the homeless people, and those who live in the fringes of society. Since 2016, also, due to an increase in immigration of Venezuelans into Colombia, Sonia started to entomb citizens from the neighboring country, and during 2020, she has done the same for individuals who died from Covid-19. Following her deep religious faith, Sonia’s goal is to provide a dignified burial to those who cannot afford to have one. She does not entertain thoughts about the nationality, history, or economic status of those she ensepulchers, instead Sonia believes that everybody has the right to be put to rest in a decorous way. In this article, I address the aims and nature of People Like Us to explore how this space challenges the conventional dichotomy of official or serious memories versus non-official or trivial ones in Colombia. Mainly analyzing Sonia’s religious beliefs reflected in the way in which she handles and treats the bodies buried in the cemetery, I explore the interactions between local and national memories, to shed light on the “differential local futures in a global world,” which are dynamic, non-binary, and non-linear.