Serendipity in times of coronavirus: Couple meets, marries in Colombian shelter

Matches are made in heaven, they said. And the heaven can sometimes be a shelter constructed in the wake of a pandemic.

Maria Cecilia Osorio and Alfonso Ardila met just a month ago, in a shelter for people made homeless during Colombia's nationwide coronavirus lockdown.

Osorio, 39, does missionary work and found herself without money to pay rent when the quarantine began in March. She accepted a spot at a shelter in Manizales, in Colombia's coffee region. Ardila, 72, works in construction and, like many informal labourers in the Andean country, saw his work dry up. Unable to pay rent and suffering the after-effects of a head injury he got at work, he too sought refuge at the shelter.

Their serendipitous meeting led to them falling in love, and eventually getting married -- at the same shelter.

The wedding was traditional -- a white dress for the bride, a suit for the groom and a large entourage of around 240 guests.

Both husband and wife are committed Christians and have taken strength from their faith in the midst of the pandemic.

"I came to this place where nobody looked at me or greeted me but here I found someone who loved me and worried about me," Ardila told Reuters, adding that hourly seizures caused by his injury had stopped since he met Osorio.

Osorio's white dress was accented with a blue sash, its train held by two bridesmaids wearing purple dresses and green face masks.

The pair now share space in a tent at the shelter and are looking ahead to the end of quarantine, scheduled for May 11.

"We are waiting for the moment when we can have a happy honeymoon," Ardila said.

(with inputs from Reuters)