When air isn’t safe:
Sheila’s Story of Asthma in Colombia

By Sheila Estrada, 22, Colombia

For as long as I can remember, I always visited pulmonologists and allergists, looking for a solution to a condition that seemed to have no end. When we are children, we don’t understand many things, and I just lived confused, trying to understand what was wrong with me. I don’t remember my life without asthma, but I do remember that bag in my room full of inhalers. I also remember the visits to the hospitals because I couldn’t breathe, not understanding what was happening to me. The hospitals, the doctors and those tests where I had to hold my breath after inhaling salbutamol were etched in my mind. After leaving the hospitals, I always wondered: Will I be a “normal girl”? At that moment all I could think about was that all the other children could play, run and laugh, while I was watching them from afar, because if I ran, I wouldn’t be able to breathe.

I also remember visiting my grandmother’s house a lot, a place full of love, but where I also faced another big problem: the constant burning of tree leaves and plastic waste. In Colombia, unfortunately, it is very common to burn many hectares of trees and their leaves, especially in rural areas and small communities. This habit generates a dense smoke, loaded with toxic particles and pollutants that seriously affected my lungs. The smoke made it difficult for me to breathe and brought me closer and closer to an asthma attack, which meant that my parents had to act quickly to find a wet handkerchief to cover my face and prevent my condition from worsening. I remember those moments with fear and anguish, but also with gratitude for my family’s care. This reality added to the constant struggle I already had with my health and made me feel even more vulnerable.

Years later I moved to Cartagena, Colombia. I lived in two houses, both next to a highway. My asthma attacks increased without knowing why, and day by day I depended more on montelukast and, if it didn’t work, I used the inhaler, because I already knew what to take due to many years of my childhood, I only consulted doctors, but I always hoped the condition would disappear on its own. Today I am still waiting for help; I am Sheila Vanessa Estrada Mesa and I have lived with asthma and allergies for as long as I have been aware. I study in an industrial area near the largest refinery in Colombia and close to very large companies where, second by second, a large number of toxic compounds are emitted into the atmosphere, affecting mainly the vulnerable population, including asthmatic people like me.

Air pollution didn´t just harm my lungs – it also taught me how vital it is to protect our environment and to fight for cleaner, healthier air. Not only for me, but for everyone who, like me, has lived with this reality since childhood. That bag of inhalers carried more than just medicines, it held my story, my struggle, and my hope for a future where breathing is not a privilege, but a right.

Sheila Vanessa Estrada Mesa, 22, Colombia

The air we breathe isn’t safe