(January 6, 2011- by Ralph Kurtenbach) The manager of the first indigenous language radio station in Ecuador, José Carlos Guamán Guilca, died in a Riobamba hospital on Sunday, Dec. 26. Three days earlier he had sustained injuries in car accident south of the Colta community in Ecuador's highland province of Chimborazo.

Mourners attended wake services for Guamán in Riobamba and in the community of San José de Tipin on Monday, Dec. 27. The following day a funeral service took place at the station's premises in Colta followed by the burial in San José de Tipin. Guamán is survived by his wife, María Lema, and two children, the youngest just 5 months old.

Guamán, 31, served as manager of two of HCJB Global's partner stations in Ecuador: Radio 101.7 FM, La Voz de AIIECH (La Asociación de Iglesias Indígenas Evangélicas de Chimborazo) in Riobamba; and Radio 950 AM in Colta.

As many as six people were in the Guamán vehicle. The accident happened when the vehicle collided with a truck that apparently had an immobilized bus in tow on Thursday, Dec. 23. The passengers injured in the crash included a pastor/vocalist, Francisco Asitimbay. The driver, Pastor Mario Shigla, was hospitalized along with his wife and two children. It is not known if anyone was injured in the truck.

Another vocalist, Piedra Viva, took part in a radio sharathon on Sunday, Jan. 9, to raise funds for Guamán's survivors and to cover hospitalization costs incurred before his death.

Nearly 140 people died on the Christmas weekend in Ecuador with traffic fatalities leading the death toll. Sixty-one people perished in traffic accidents, according to Ecuador's National Police. Of 216 injuries on the weekend, 167 were injured in traffic mishaps.

The FM station in Riobamba is affiliated with the ALAS-HCJB Spanish satellite radio network. Sometimes the AM station in Colta also retransmits the ALAS programming when the two stations are linked together. The mission has provided technical help since the Colta radio station began, including the installation of a new transmitter in December 2009.

La Voz de AIIECH began in 1961 through the efforts of missionary Dr. Donald Dilworth of Avant Ministries. At that time his friend and the Chimborazo provincial governor, Federico Martínez, arranged for Dilworth's attendance at a banquet for Ecuadorian President José María Velasco Ibarra. Upon hearing of Dilworth's need for a radio permit, the president told a secretary, "Whatever they request, make sure they receive it." The permit granted gave Dilworth 89 days to be on the air.

He raised funds, and with technical support from HCJB Global Voice, put radio station HCUE-5 on the air in 88 days! Almost immediately the station was shown to be an effective communications instrument among the Quichua-speaking people.

Seventy fixed-tuned radios, built by HCJB's Radio Circle in Quito, were sold in 13 Quichua communities, garnering a high level of interest in this new communications medium. It was not uncommon to see 20 to 30 people gathered around to listen to a single radio receiver.

AIIECH was reorganized in 2000, changing its name to the Confederation of Peoples, Communities, Organizations and Indigenous Evangelical Churches of Chimborazo. The organization leads 820 local churches and also the two radio stations. In 2009 Guamán began directing the stations which announced his death on Dec. 26.

Sources: HCJB Global, CRE, La Voz de AIIECH, Misión Buen Samaritano, El Telégrafo, Vistazo, EFE, Facebook