27 hours of love

As I write, Chile is slap-bang in the middle of its Teletón - a major national fundraising event that seeks to unite the entire country in order to raise money for children and young people with disabilities.

It's a bit like Children in Need or Comic Relief, only I would say on a much grander scale. The TV marathon starts at 10pm on Friday night and goes right through until the small hours of Sunday morning. There are acts throughout the period - music, dance, comedy, even strippers (apparently) at one point - as well as a celebrity football match and of course, lots of heart-breaking stories of struggle, rehabilitation and hope.

But it's more than that, it feels like the entire country gets involved in the Teletón. As an adult, I think, it's often quite easy for the British telethons to pass you by. You can simply not tune in to BBC1 on that evening, and if your workplace isn't one that does a lot for charity, and you don't have children to remind you that their school is organising something, you could be forgiven for not realising there was any kind of fundraising effort taking place at all.

Here, things are different. For the last month or so, there has been a huge advertising campaign - billboard-size posters in the Metro, Teletón packaging on all the well-known brands and TV commercials across all networks to remind you that the 3rd and 4th of December is Teletón. Then in the last week or so, hand-painted adverts have started appearing on the rear windows of people's cars, on buses even. The people here are moved to get involved. There is no way you escape the call for Chile, un solo corazón (Chile, one heart).

Last night I watched the opening ceremony; I set a new record (even for me) of starting to blub my eyes out around 10 seconds in. I really shouldn't watch these kind of programmes. Of course, this has been a momentous year for Chile, with the massive earthquake in February, a change in government and the rescue of the San Jose miners, all taking place in its Bicentenary - 200 years since the process of independence from Spain began.

But what was really amazing to me, was I couldn't have not watched the Teletón - it was on every single TV channel in the country. Friday night in Santiago was eerily quiet. I usually get very little sleep at the weekend because Chileans love a good party to end the week - with loud music, singing and dancing regularly going on until 3 or 4am. Yet last night - not a peep; with the exception of an occasional chorus of cheers and shouts. And I knew exactly what was prompting those cheers and shouts, because I was watching too. Truly, a nation united in solidarity - Chile, one heart.