By Sabrina De Santiago

MEXICO: I have a confession to make, I am a junkie.

By Roxana Urrutia

SPAIN: Every year, Madrid celebrates the Gay Parade, but this year Spain’s capital was chosen to host the Europride Parade, making Madrid the Europride Gay Capital.

By Mayra Beltrán de Daetz

GUATEMALA: Last month, Guatemala celebrated an annual nationally televised event.

In a way, you could say it was our version of the Olympics. Not the one where athletes from all over the world compete for Gold medals, but one where everyday people compete against the odds to walk and live normal lives.

By Janett Chávarry García

PERU: In Perú right now, we’re experiencing a particularly cold winter. It’s perhaps the strongest one we’ve had in years. Somehow, we should have seen that as an omen as to what was to come.

Because on August 15, our corner of the world changed.

It was a strange sunny afternoon that shone on a cold Lima on that fateful day. I was in a shopping center buying a sweater with my mother. This shopping center is in Lima’s centre square.

At 6:41 p.m., the earth shook and what was to follow will forever be etched into the memory of all Peruvians.