Every year in Chile the nation unites behind a common cause: a 27 hour-long telethon to raise money for disabled children.

Businesses, individuals and the government all subscribe to the Teletón slogan: ‘puro corazon,’ or ‘pure heart,’ emphasizing the good intentions with which the program raises colossal sums of money.

But behind this marketing machine is a sad picture of governmental neglect and capitalist profiteering.

Twenty-six thousand disabled kids each year depend on donations given on this one – extended – day of the year. But not everyone feels the same enthusiasm for the work the Teletón does.

Wheelchair-bound Claudio Gonzalez, who took part in the campaign as a child, is one of 99 percent of Chile’s disabled adults without a job. He’s highly critical of its donors’ motivations.

“The Teletón’s sponsors earn money,” Gonzales said. “They get publicity from the show. They want us to make the public feel sorry for us. They use us, and we’re left with nothing.”

Gonzalez was referring to the free TV advertisements that private companies receive in exchange for donating to the Teletón.

This fuels the more basic argument of the campaign’s critics: Public policy not private philanthropy should be providing for the country’s disabled.

Alejandro Hernández is president of Chile’s leading disability NGO, the National Foundation for the Disabled.

“All the rehabilitation centers that work with children should be under the roof of the management and administration of the Ministry of Health not of businesses,” Hernandez said.

Hernández said the Chilean government is shirking both a constitutional and UN declared responsibility to take care of the country’s disabled.

But María Ximena Rivas, the National Director of the government-run disability ministry Senadis said that the government simply can’t afford to do the work that the Teletón does.

“Why is the state not able to take charge of the Teletón?” Rivas asked. “The answer is simple: Because we lack the resources. Today in this country there is not enough money for the government to be able to maintain the operation of the Teletón with the quality, experience and resources that they have.”

Last year the Teletón raised around $55 million – more than double what the Chilean government allots to Senadis, the disability ministry.

Even so, the Teletón’s eleven rehabilitation centers still only provide equipment and services such as physical therapy for seven percent of Chile’s disabled community, and only kids. Adults and those with non-physical disabilities are excluded entirely. Rivas said the government is simply overwhelmed.

“There are 93 percent of other people with disabilities who are not covered by the Telethon’s work. Well, we have to work for them. So you can see our problem,” Rivas said.

But Mauricio Muñoz isn’t buying it. Muñoz was born blind, and has never been allowed to participate in the Teletón. He said it’s nice that the Teletón raises so much money, and it certainly helps some people. But, he said the giant fundraiser also lets the Chilean government off the hook.

“In Chile, things are bad for us. We lack government support, and the institutions aren’t doing their job properly. There is lack of motivation and will to resolve this problem, because things could be different,” Muñoz said.

Whether or not that’s true, few will say outright that there shouldn’t be a Teletón.

Catalina Parot said if nothing else, the event draws international recognition to Chile and highlights the needs of the disabled.

Parot is Chile’s first disabled government minister, and she said that the perception of those with disabilities has radically changed since she was a child – thanks to the Teletón.

“What Teletón founder Don Francisco has done, beyond any criticism that might exist, is to make people confront their fear of the disabled,” Parot said.

Or, what if Lady Gaga arranged to build her own resting place in the shape of a pyramid guarded by two sphinxes?

Well, there’s a cemetery in Chile where such memorials really do exist.

It is located on the outskirts of Chile’s cultural and political capital and looks out on the tall peaks of the Andes.

And the capital we’re looking for is Santiago de Chile: One place to visit is the city’s General Cemetery.

Sounds a little creepy, doesn’t it? But the cemetery is a popular destination for families and tourists alike.

And as Olivia Crellin reports, some visitors go there to explore Chile’s history.

When you arrive at Chile’s General Cemetery on the weekend – the day for funerals – it feels like you’re outside a buzzing city mall – with cars parked round the block.

This is, in fact, one of Chile’s oldest and most sacred spots. Families come from all over the city to spend their weekends together – with both the living and the dead.

Alejandra and her daughter Gabriela have been coming to take care of her mother’s grave every week since she passed away two years ago.

“I come every week, every week since November 2010,” said Alejandra. “In another part [of the cemetery] is my father, we’ll go and visit him too. Together, all together, my siblings, my mother… It’s beautiful here. It’s peaceful.”

The huge 200-year-old cemetery is home to around 2 million graves. These include famous Chileans like poet Víctor Jara, singer Violeta Parra and most of Chile’s presidents.

Augusto Pinochet – who took power in a 1973 coup – is not here, but there are monuments to the many desaparecidos, or ‘disappeared’ from the time of his dictatorship.

A tour gives locals and tourists a history of Chile through the stories of the people, famous and ordinary, buried here.

From the mother who killed herself out of desperation for her lost children – and still searches for them among the graves – to the exhumation of socialist president Salvador Allende, who took his own life during the 1973 coup. The tour brings the tombs to life.

Student Camilo Oritz said the tour taught him many new things about the history of his country.

“I have learned a lot about the history of Chile,” Ortiz said, “things that happened in the past, it was amazing, things that I had never heard before. I learned a lot.”

The tour guide is dressed as a scary monk and in the dark the tour can actually feel a bit spooky. Laura Kelland is a British tourist.

“I’m very scared there are actors hiding and that they are going to jump out at me. So I’m a bit distracted,” she said, laughing.

Tombs range from crowded, tenement-style living to more lavish structures. In the Avenue of the Architects, Egyptian-style tombs sit alongside Greco-Roman and Gothic mansions. There are also group mausoleums housing entire soccer teams, or the likes of the Union of Milkmen.

“It’s a world within a world,” said Edgar who has worked here all his life, but he said that there are options for everyone.

While the residents are stuck in the past the cemetery itself has modernised in recent years. Funerals are scheduled via a ‘departures’ board and tomb architects even advertise their work by carving a discreet telephone number somewhere on a grave.

The desire of Chileans to be close to their loved ones will not die – making the cemetery not just a tourist attraction but also a vital part of every day life.

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