IN MEMORIAM: CRIZEL JANE VALENCIA
1994 - 2000

Crizel Jane Valencia, a very brave six year old girl from Mabalacat, Philippines, who had been suffering from leukemia for some time, died while visiting the Rainbow Warrior on Friday 25 February with a group of 20 children. She died from natural causes living out her wish to visit the Rainbow Warrior. Crizel had been a keen supporter of Greenpeace and had produced the invitations and posters used by Greenpeace during the Rainbow Warrior's visit to the Philippines.

Following is a personal account of Crizel's last day onboard the ship:

By Butch Turk, Ships Nurse.

Crizel was born on Clark Air Base in a community sited in an area that was later found to be highly contaminated with heavy metals and other toxins. The community had been relocated there after the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo destroyed their homes.

Crizel was diagnosed with leukemia in the March of 1999. Recently her doctor deemed the disease 'endstage' and halted her chemotherapy treatment. Crizel's doctor had clearly stated that doing what Crizel wanted was now more important than any medical care, and had specifically encouraged her trip to the Rainbow Warrior.

Through the afternoon I discovered a bit more about Crizel and her desire to visit the Rainbow Warrior. She learned several months ago that she was going to have a chance to see the ship and had been looking forward to it ever since. Later, she sat down and drew a picture of the Rainbow Warrior (shown above). This picture ended up being used as the poster announcing the Philippine leg of the Toxic Free Asia Tour. It was Crizel who decided that going to the ship this day was more important than going to the hospital for her transfusion and she'd even insisted on getting a new pair of shoes for the occasion.

A large display outlining Greenpeace's reasons for being in the Philippines had been set up on the dockside. Alongside the photos of polluted landscapes, past Greenpeace actions, and sick kids (including Crizel) from the former U.S. bases, were several crayon drawings that Crizel had made. They are full of hearts, balloons, flowers, birds, bright suns, and smiling children, although one shows a girl with no hair. I particularly marvel at the imagination of a child who can see herself standing on the back of a smiling, striped giraffe. Perhaps she would have grown up to be an artist - there's no doubt that she loved to make beautiful pictures. Although she was ill on the day she was determined to visit the Warrior and became very agitated when it was suggested she should leave to receive medical care.

Once it was decided with her mother and personal carer to keep Crizel aboard, we immediately took her on a quick tour of the ship. At about 15:30 we took her, her mother, several other kids, and a couple of adults for a ride on the large Avon inflatable. I took Crizel into the inflatable and kept her in my lap the whole time. With Captain Pete Willcox's steering advice, the boat was mostly driven by the kids. Pete made especially sure that we passed within a few meters of the huge U.S. Navy troop transport ship, Fort McHenry.

Although she remained quiet throughout the boat ride, Crizel said she was enjoying herself when asked. She vomited a small amount once. When it was Crizel's turn to drive she sat up straight, grasped the wheel with both hands, and even did a pretty decent job with a nice light touch to her steering. I don't know if the skipped transfusion, exertion of the drive to the ship, and excitement of being aboard used up the last of her scanty reserves and hastened her death by a few days. Alternatively, it's possible that she would have departed sooner if she didn't have the Rainbow Warrior to look forward to. I choose to believe the latter.

People now far away chose to leave a toxic stew where Crizel would later be born. Crizel didn't choose to be sick. She didn't choose to die young, but how she lived, until the very end, was what she wanted. She blessed all of us by inviting us into her world on her last day. I'm glad we accepted the invitation.

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