Trapped Chilean Miners Forge Refuge - by Alexei Barrionuevo - The New York Times

NYTimes, by Alexei Barrionuevo, Mina San José, 31/08/2010, excerpt/extracto.-

Mario Gómez is all too familiar with the hardships of prolonged confinement. While still in his 30s, his family said, he survived as a stowaway on a ship for 11 days, living below deck on little more than bits of chocolate and drops of water collected in a shoe — an ordeal so trying it brought him closer to God.

Now, at 62 years old, Mr. Gómez is the oldest of the 33 miners trapped nearly half a mile underground here and has become the spiritual guide to his men, government officials said. He has organized a small subterranean chapel and is serving as unofficial aide to the psychologists working on the surface to cope with the miners’ sadness and fear.

Miners are a hardened breed. Mr. Gómez and the two other men leading the group below are no exception. They come from traditional mining families and together have more than 90 years of experience working underground.