An “evil spirit,” which is believed by area residents to have been cast upon the Roman Catholic Primary School in Big Falls, a village in Toledo, has resulted in 15 students and two adults losing control of themselves, as if some malignant force had taken over their bodies.
Amandala traveled today to Big Falls after the story broke on Friday. We were told that the first demonic attack occurred at the school in early May. The first victim, a student, 9, grabbed another child and dragged her for a while in an attempt to take her into a nearby river.
We understand that apart from the children, a parent had an attack recently, and the most recent victim was a teacher of the same school. Tomorrow, June 19, will mark a month since the strange attacks began in Big Falls.
Ten of the fifteen students were flown to Guatemala for treatment. After the attacks had begun at the school, the children had been seen by a local doctor, who said that there was nothing wrong with them.
Today, everyone in the closely knit community showed his or her concern for the safety of the children and other villagers who have been affected since the attacks began. At about 3:00 p.m., they were happy when the principal of Big Falls, via telephone, informed the chairman that all the ten children were doing well and they are coming home tomorrow.
Sometime around 1:00 p.m., the village alcade, Regino Hernandez, and the village chairman, Rogelio Oliva, will be meeting the principal, Carmelo Juarez, in Guatemala. Juarez will be bringing back the students to Belize. He joined the children in Guatemala this morning.
Only 10 of the 15 affected children were able to spend four days receiving healing treatment at a hospital in Rio Dulce, Guatemala, because the other five children did not experience an attack until last week Friday, after the others had already left for Gautemala.
In Guatemala, a woman who specializes in healing by prayers from God, has been interacting with the children, we were told. We understand that at the hospital the children, besides being prayed over, received medications, in the form of injections, to calm them down.
It has been a rather frightening and frustrating five weeks for the village. The school was forced to close down, leaving only the teachers present.
The attacks had become so frequent that one student would have four attacks for the day, said Hernandez.
The latest victim is a Standard III teacher. On Saturday night sometime around 8:30, the teacher began experiencing severe headaches, a very common sign in the victims, we understand.
The teacher began feeling as though something was at her throat and was choking her. She began to vomit and was rushed outside her house.
While outside, she began to scream and cried out loud. She then began to walk towards the bush saying, “I don’t want to go”, said Gregorio Chee, the vice principal at Big Falls.
When asked “go where?” she responded saying, “I don’t know where”, and that it was just something calling her.
This teacher has been in contact with five of the Standard III students presently affected.
The first victim of an alleged demon attack was only 9 years old.
When we spoke with Regino Hernandez and Rogelio Oliva, it appeared they are still traumatized by the attacks. While Oliva refrained from going into details about his experience, Hernandez talked to us.
The first attack occurred in early May, Hernandez said. The 9-year-old girl was playing with schoolmates when she suddenly grabbed a schoolmate and began dragging her to the nearby river, exhibiting remarkable strength.
When her schoolmates saw what she was doing, they ran behind her, but it took ten young boys to hold her down, said Hernandez.
According to both Hernandez and Oliva, it appears that all the attack victims have been diplaying an extreme increase in strength. The most common symptom before an attack appears to be a severe headache, followed by stiffness/pain in the foot.
After a while, the 9-year-old became herself again.
According to Hernandez, the victims are extremely tired after an attack.
But the strange part is what the 9-year-old told them she experienced during her attack. She said that a spirit came to take her. It left her a message, that there would be more attacks, said Hernandez.
A villager we spoke with said that another common symptom in the children is the grinding of the teeth, and the eyes turning red, along with trembling of the entire body.
We understand that in Guatemala, within two hours of their arrival, the children had simultaneous attacks. They had to be held by their parents until they were all calm.
We were told that the healing woman has told the chairman that the children are not to return to the school, because, according to her, the school is where the demon has been cast. Someone has placed something on the grounds of the school, she said, and the grounds need to be cleansed before the children can return.
Amandala has made several attempts to speak with officials of the Ministry of Education, but so far they have refrained from commenting.
A candlelight vigil is scheduled for tonight in Big Falls, with the Catholic Bishop Dorick Wright and the entire community. The vigil is expected to continue for the next three days.
The Bishop is expected to conduct a special anointment in the presence of the children now affected.
While the community is relieved that the children appear to have recovered, they say that they do not know if they have been permanently cured of the attacks.
Today, Monday, the students at Big Falls were supposed to begin their terms exams.