Writing 109GS Students Meet with Ingrid Betancourt

On October 27, 2010, Writing 109GS students had a rare opportunity to meet with Ingrid Betancourt, a former presidential candidate in Colombia and a political prisoner, who was abducted by FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces in Colombia) and spent six and a half years in captivity. Introducing her memoir, Even Silence Has an End: My Six Years of Captivity in the Colombian Jungle, Ms. Betancourt recounted harrowing stories of her subhuman treatment by the FARC guards and her five unsuccessful attempts to escape. Moved by Ms. Betancourt’s account of abuse, hunger, illness, torture and struggle to retain dignity, the students wrote that they were particularly inspired by the strength of Ms. Betancourt’s spirit, her resilience, and transforming insights into human nature that resulted from her extraordinary experience.