A week ago today, Canadian tourist Bruce McCallum was mugged and stabbed to death in Puerto Viejo, Limón, when he was taking photographs of the sunrise.

51-year-old McCallum was a math teacher who apparently was on a sabbatical from his job at Albert Campbell Collegiate Institute; according to the Toronto Sun, McCallum loved traveling, nature and photography.

Yesterday, close to 200 people from the community of Puerto Viejo, gathered at sunrise to mourn the death and honor Bruce Craig McCallum. The invitation sent about the activity read “We are going to take that photograph of the dawn at our beloved Caribbean that Bruce wanted to take with him, and that tragically took his life”.

McCallum’s name was written in the sand, “The idea was to gather in the beach and take the photo he was not able to take. It was a way to pay tribute to him, his family and friends, to his students, because he has left a great void”, explained Lucas Iturriza, neighbor of Puerto Viejo and organizer of the event.

Neighbors formed a line, held hands and raised them up to the sky, after 5 minutes of silence they prayed.

“We regained hope, because we are a peaceful community. Bruce could have been me, or anyone else”, commented Iturriza, who is a native from Argentina and has been living in Puerto Viejo for ten years.

The objective was to honor the memory of Bruce McCallum, but they also raised their voice against violence.