IN following the national news last week, I can’t recall seeing so many happy souls with smiling faces in a very long time.

In a world dominated by disasters, wars and personal tragedies deemed worthy of national attention, the sight of the Chilean miners emerging from more than half a mile underground united us all.

Mining disasters are not an uncommon occurrence, so when the news broke in August of the discovery of the survivors in Chile, most people probably didn’t give any hope that they would be rescued. How wrong we were. The miners’ plight gripped the world over for three months in a way no other story has for years, and for a pleasant change, it had a happy ending.

It is doubtful that many of those who were enthralled by the live television coverage of the rescue could pinpoint Chile on a map or name its capital – yours truly included.

As I learned at school, Chile is a long, narrow country that hugs the western coast of South America between the Andes mountain range and the Pacific Ocean. The capital is Santiago de Chile, which, I am ashamed to admit for someone who prides herself on a high standard of geographical knowledge, I had forgotten.

What was even more amazing than the rescue operation was the determination of a nation, which just 20 years ago lived in fear of an oppressive military dictatorship, uniting as one in a show of patriotic fervour. Social status and political differences were put aside in the best interests of the entombed miners and their families.

Unfortunately, now ‘Los 33’ are free, human nature will inevitably take over and the recriminations, family squabbles and jealousy as they benefit financially will begin.

• Read then full column in today’s JEP