Out of Captivity : Surviving 1,967 Days in the Colombian Jungle

In all of the camps, cigarettes like thesewere our currency with the guards. Weused them to get everything from extra bathsupplies to radios to information about whatthe FARC higher-ups had in store for us.Radios like this one wereour lifelines to the outsideworld, and gaining accessto them was a beautifulthing. Whether it wasstudying the news orwaiting for messages fromour loved ones, we couldn’tget enough of the radios.The initials LJ engravedinto the front stand for thename of the guard thatMarc got this radio from.This was Marc’s jungle sewing kit. Because wegot new clothes from the FARC so infrequentlyand the clothes we did get rarely fit usproperly, we each had to become much betterwith a needle and thread.We lived in fear that any rescueattempt by the Colombiangovernment would result in theFARC trying to execute us. We eachhad a go kit of supplies prepared sothat we could make a break for it atthe first sound of incoming helos.This one contains a mirror, toiletpaper, a fishing line and hook, alighter that has a small LED light atthe bottom, and a razor blade.