- 6 months ago
Santa Cruz del Islote has an area of just one percent of a square kilometer in size where 816 people squeeze their entire lives.
The island is so full that a guy does his daily workout routine near a dog feces and chaotic life here creates new adaptations.
Since we arrived on the island, we’ve been constantly encountering people no matter where we turn.
People come out from every corner.
It’s impossible to be alone on these crowded streets.
Each house here has dozens of people living together in tiny rooms.
Ruhi: How many people live in this room?
Woman: About ten.
This is an average room of an average house, you will be shocked when you see how other people live.
But these people have a much bigger problem than these houses which makes life so extremely terrible here.
The island is so full that a guy does his daily workout routine near a dog feces and chaotic life here creates new adaptations.
Since we arrived on the island, we’ve been constantly encountering people no matter where we turn.
People come out from every corner.
It’s impossible to be alone on these crowded streets.
Each house here has dozens of people living together in tiny rooms.
Ruhi: How many people live in this room?
Woman: About ten.
This is an average room of an average house, you will be shocked when you see how other people live.
But these people have a much bigger problem than these houses which makes life so extremely terrible here.
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FunTranscript
00:00Santa Cruz del Islote has an area of just 1% of a square kilometer inside
00:05where 816 people squeeze their entire lives.
00:08The island is so full that a guy does his daily workout routine near a dog feces
00:13and chaotic life here creates new adaptations.
00:15Since we arrived on the island, we've been constantly encountering people no matter where we turn.
00:20People come out from every corner.
00:22It's impossible to be alone on these crowded streets.
00:25Each house here has dozens of people living together in tiny rooms.
00:28How many people live in this room?
00:30About 10.
00:31This is an average room of an average house.
00:33You will be shocked when you see how other people live.
00:36But these people have a much bigger problem than these houses,
00:39which makes life so extremely terrible here.
00:41Welcome to the most densely populated island on earth.
00:45A two-hour boat ride away from the mainland of Colombia,
00:48the island is just a little bigger than a football field in size
00:51and has a density of 68,000 people per square kilometer.
00:55Even in Hong Kong, known as one of the most densely populated cities in the world,
00:59this rate is 6,749.
01:02There are only four streets and the place is entirely constructed of concrete.
01:06They don't have cars or motorcycles here.
01:08We feel the density as soon as we step onto the island.
01:11The sounds of people, roasters, waves and music all mix together.
01:15The homes here tell the story of the island.
01:17Let's get inside one now.
01:18Can we sit inside your house?
01:20Yes, you may.
01:21See, I don't have anything.
01:23Sorry, it's a little dark inside.
01:25We don't have electricity here.
01:27You can see that they have some laundry work in the hallway
01:30and they leave them to dry in this open area.
01:32Let's start with this room.
01:34Homeowner says 10 people share these three beds together.
01:37This is my room.
01:39How many people sleep on that bed?
01:41Three.
01:42What about this room?
01:45She is not allowing us to enter this room as it's too unorganized.
01:49Kids used to sleep here.
01:50Since it is too hot, we take the mattresses out of the room
01:53because there is no electricity.
01:55Seven kids are living in this room alone.
02:00They're making use of every bit of space, even the walls,
02:03because they don't own a wardrobe.
02:05Their clothes, shoes are all over the place.
02:07The kitchen is far from being clean because of the water shortage.
02:10People use water only for drinking.
02:12All other reasons have to be disregarded.
02:14Almost any time on the streets we see laundry hung up
02:17or just left lying around, some barbers at work,
02:20chairs spilling out of homes, children constantly running up and down.
02:24220 families live in houses illegally built.
02:27Here, permission is not obtained from any authority
02:30and no one is officially a landowner.
02:32Everybody builds their houses wherever they want.
02:34When they can't find any space, they build on top of existing buildings.
02:38The buildings are so intertwined that sometimes they have to walk through each other's homes
02:42to get to the other side.
02:44As we get to know islanders more and more,
02:46we will discover a very different reason why their future is going to get even worse.
02:50Population density defies all logic.
02:52We see dishes and leftovers everywhere.
02:55And this dog is trying to eat the crumbs left on the spoon.
02:58Some people are fishing, others selling food on street corners, and some working on construction.
03:03A few are trying their luck with a lottery machine brought to the island, dreaming of becoming rich.
03:08As this all happens, there's a birthday celebration, and the party sounds can be heard everywhere.
03:15People are striving for comfort in their little space.
03:17Is this her own house or is she on a rent?
03:20My own house.
03:21What is the average rent here?
03:23There are some who pay rent, because there are people who are not from here.
03:27They pay 50 to 75 dollars.
03:29Usually the only utility they pay for is electricity.
03:32There is a crowded family here.
03:34They gave the second floor to their married children, so that they can stay there.
03:38It seems they have a communal life here.
03:41For you to have a better understanding how small this island really is.
03:45I came to the furthest side of it, and I will walk to the other side.
03:48And while doing that, I'll start a timer.
03:51Let's see how many minutes it will take.
03:53We're trying to find our way among the maze-like narrow streets.
03:56Privacy is impossible here, because with every step we pass through someone's life.
04:00Kids dominate this island's population.
04:02Even a space of four or five steps turns into a vast playground in the imagination of these children.
04:07The island has one school, one church, one clinic, one hotel, one restaurant, and three markets.
04:12200 years ago, none of these streets, this chaos, garbage, mosquitoes, and the people were here.
04:16According to a legend, some fishermen discovered this island and spent the night here when it was too late to return.
04:21Then they decided to settle here with their families after sleeping well without mosquitoes.
04:25It was later artificially enlarged by compressing coral rocks, seashells, and waste year after year.
04:31It took less than two minutes.
04:32We met a 94-year-old lady who witnessed everything here.
04:35Was she born on this island?
04:37She never left.
04:38Nothing in a single day.
04:39Misharmen first came from the Baru region.
04:42They started to expand the islet, and in a hundred years the island came like this.
04:47There were no motors back then or anything like that.
04:50Only small canoes with paddles.
04:52If you remember it correctly, when I was born there was only this house and a few more houses.
04:57The rest was nothing.
04:58We are blessed to be located on the world's second largest coral reef with its amazing, amazing sea life.
05:04Waves that rise 20 to 30 meters in the open ocean are reduced to merely 25 to 30 centimeters when they reach our shores.
05:11Look, all that you see around the island up to five or six miles off the coast is surrounded by pure coral.
05:17We're safe here.
05:18How many people live here?
05:20Two families live here.
05:21Each family consists of six members, 12 people in total.
05:25Where is the kitchen?
05:26The kitchen.
05:27The stove goes here.
05:28That's not a problem.
05:29We cook with propane gas.
05:31Dogs can't grow anymore once they hit a certain size because of not getting enough nutrition.
05:36Life here is really limited for every creature.
05:39Here, we meet the nurse who has helped almost everyone come into the world healthy.
05:43Forty years of delivering babies.
05:46How many babies?
05:47Oh my goodness.
05:48I've lost count.
05:49I don't even remember.
05:51Most of the youth in this town pass through these hands that you see.
05:55I delivered almost everyone on this island and now I'm delivering even their children's children.
06:00And I've never had a baby die.
06:02Little children with vomiting, a high fever or diarrhea come to me.
06:06I tell them what to do or which medicine to take.
06:09I'm like a doctor.
06:10Everyone knows me here.
06:12The lack of modern healthcare services on the island poses a risk in emergency situations.
06:17But as you will understand by the end of the video, their real problem is so much more vital.
06:22By the way, according to the locals, the average life expectancy on the island is 85 to 90 years.
06:27My sister died at the age of 103.
06:30People get to go beyond these limits only after they lose their lives because there is no cemetery
06:35on this island where people can bury their loved ones as there is no land to dig.
06:39After the corpses are toured around the square with a ceremony, they are then taken to the mainland by a boat and buried there.
06:45What is the average age for girls to get married or have a child?
06:49Typically girls are 16 years old when they have their first children.
06:53This also applies to their children when they get to that age.
06:56There is no family planning and the population keeps growing rapidly.
06:59How many kids do people usually have?
07:02Here?
07:03From two to five.
07:04Family life here is uniquely laid back.
07:07Most of the couples are together without any official marriages.
07:10Also, it's not unusual for people to have kids with more than one partner, but that's part of life here.
07:15Is she married?
07:16I have a husband, but I'm not married.
07:19Oh really?
07:20Which means it's all free union.
07:22Free.
07:23Also, people don't care about their personal space and joke around all the time.
07:26One of the biggest problems of the island is trash.
07:29Some of these will be in the ocean.
07:31Some of these will be sent to the mainland.
07:33But you can feel the smell and the amount of mosquitoes wherever you go.
07:36Is it filming?
07:39Most of the waste is hidden in the ocean.
07:42Without thinking twice, people just throw their loads of garbage into the water, which they see as a dumping ground.
07:47Plastics, glass, and metal pieces.
07:49But what you will see next will make you feel more disgusting.
07:52Unbelievably, even a toilet can be found at the ocean floor.
07:55The crabs swimming in this pollution are some of the important food sources for the residents.
08:00And these broken cages were used to hunt these animals.
08:03There are some plastic bags in the ocean.
08:06People are fishing.
08:07These women are washing their clothes.
08:10Life is chaotic here.
08:11Access to electricity and drinking water here varies depending on the weather conditions.
08:16Solar panels are here.
08:17This is the way they produce electricity for the island.
08:20We have 380 solar panels and 180 batteries, which gives us energy for everything.
08:26If the weather is sunny, electricity is provided between 12 a.m. to 5 p.m.
08:31Is there something that she wants to change in this island?
08:34Mainly the electricity.
08:35Look, today we've been without electricity for 4 days.
08:38If all the winds are hot.
08:41You see tomatoes and peppers.
08:42Since there isn't enough power, these are not very fresh.
08:45These power generators are working.
08:47Almost everything people need is provided in the 3 markets on this main street, including medicines.
08:52This is the trading center of the island.
08:55There's another shop here.
08:56You can buy some t-shirts and shorts.
08:59We have a lot of wind here.
09:00The salt carried by winds damages our devices.
09:03The real struggle begins with the obtaining of drinking water, as there is no tap water in here.
09:08As you see, they gather the rain water with these pipes.
09:10Not even a single drop of water is wasted.
09:13Drinking water?
09:14We suffer a lot.
09:15There, below the health center, we have a community tank that we call the lung of the island.
09:20When it rains, the joy is so immense here that we go partying that day.
09:24Here, the drought scares us so much.
09:26It takes 7 to 8 months to get some rain here.
09:29We store that precious liquid and then we distribute it to all the families equally without skipping anyone.
09:34The navy sees the problem we have here.
09:36They let the mayor's office use their ships so that they could bring us some water.
09:40This helps a lot.
09:41Now we have some water. All the tanks are full because it is rain.
09:45Also, the island doesn't have any sewage system.
09:48Even though rain means good news in terms of water supply, rainfalls are bringing life into the edge of a chaos.
09:53Since the enlarged areas of the island are not solid, hurricanes or a heavy rain makes houses and streets unusable.
09:59What does he not like about this island?
10:02Well, the only bad thing is the rainy season.
10:05When it rains, the tides rises.
10:07All these streets are flooded with seawater.
10:10More in September and October.
10:12During those months, if these houses didn't have these raised floors, the rainwater would enter the rooms.
10:18Keep in mind that they are also without electricity during these seasons.
10:22We are at the heart of Santa Cruz del Islote.
10:24This is the only monument on the island and it is called La Patrona.
10:28Monument protects us from hurricanes.
10:31We are inside the small church of this settlement. It seems like it needs some repairing.
10:35Are you the priest?
10:37I am the leader.
10:38There are many young kids on this island. What will their future be like?
10:42After they finish primary school, they don't go on to further studies.
10:46Their parents don't have the means to send them to the mainland.
10:49So there are 240 students on this island and 12 teachers.
10:53Welcome to the only school on the island.
10:55This is a classroom for the grade one.
10:57Since there is no school in the neighboring islands, students from there also come here.
11:01And their school service is of course a boat.
11:03Every young boy here loves playing soccer, even the girls.
11:07What do you want to become when you grow up?
11:09A soccer player.
11:10Where do they want to play?
11:11In Madrid.
11:12The Paris team in Argentina.
11:21Locals are earning their living by tourism.
11:23Qualified as a national park, the island charges $2.5 from the tourists for the entrance.
11:28With the arrival of these hundreds of tourists every day, a much bigger chaos appears on the streets.
11:33For us, tourists are a blessing from God.
11:36They are a source of employment, directly or indirectly.
11:39I am a bartender.
11:40What is every salary or profit for a person here?
11:44It depends very much on the season.
11:46There is a guy who goes diving.
11:47If he's lucky, he can make $30 per day.
11:50If there are a few tourists, he can only earn $15.
11:53A bartender, depending on the tourism season, after expenses and paying workers, can make $50 per day.
12:01This is if they can attract foreigners.
12:03Here, there is an aquarium built for tourists where locals keep fishes, sea turtles and even sharks in a very limited space.
12:10Famous for allowing tourists to swim with these animals, this place significantly contributes to the local economy.
12:16Fishing is very important as well, but the people don't really value what the environment provides for themselves.
12:22The islanders now have to import fish because of marine pollution and overfishing.
12:26When you go out fishing, you no longer catch the same amount of fish.
12:29That is to say right now, the fish in the restaurants is brought here from the mainland.
12:34This is the only hostel of Santa Cruz del Islote.
12:37Let's go inside.
12:38A peaceful atmosphere is created for the tourists here.
12:41It looks like a silent shelter in chaos.
12:43Despite this crowd, there is not even a single police that provides security, nor a state of law on the island.
12:49Since everybody knows each other here, they don't need for it.
12:52Look, we have 800 people here and we have no police.
12:55So, you don't see robberies, muggings or stabbings.
12:58We live peacefully here.
12:59Our police here are older adults.
13:01We respect them so much here.
13:03If there is an argument, a misunderstanding or a fight, the older adults set in and grab us,
13:08find out who is right, and then give us advice.
13:11Then, we shake hands and keep on being the same brothers and sisters, with no hard feelings.
13:16Does he have plans to migrate to somewhere else?
13:19I'll spend my entire life on the island.
13:21I was born and raised right here.
13:23I'm going to die right here.
13:24In the evening, residents are more active and everywhere is more crowded since the weather cools off.
13:30When the sun goes down, the island gets completely dark because there isn't electricity at night.
13:35People use candles or flashlights of their mobile phones, which are charged during certain hours to brighten the night.
13:41Everyone goes outside of their doorsteps because their houses are very tiny and dark.
13:46Besides, there is nothing to do inside of the houses.
13:49The darkness never prevents the island's vibrant spirit.
13:52There is also a little pub where everyone gathers.
13:54Most of the locals drink a lot during the night.
13:56We hear Latin music all the time.
13:58People are singing and dancing together.
14:01Some of them play domino, a very popular game here.
14:04And the birthday party is still going on.
14:06Some of the garbage from this event is already piled up here.
14:09Most of these people living in isolation from the rest of the world have never left these boundaries in their entire lives.
14:15They have no desire to leave their small world or to strive to improve their living standards with each passing day.
14:21The island community has a deep bond to their homeland and they focus on shared happiness and positive values.
14:27The biggest problems of Santa Cruz del Estote are the lack of clean water and insufficient cleaning garbage.
14:33The island is not in a position to accommodate more people.
14:36Despite all the negatives, people are connected to each other like a big family and are happy.
14:40Thank you for watching this documentary.
14:42Don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel.
14:45See you in the next one.
14:46Ruhi Chenet was here.
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