Wiliany lives with a motor disability. She participates in physical therapy sessions and received a new walking frame from Humanity & Inclusion to help her get around her neighborhood.

Wiliany, 7, was born with prenatal hypoxia—lacking oxygen during her mother’s pregnancy. This affected her motor functions, especially the use of her legs. As a result, Wiliany has never been able to move around without help and has grown dependent on others, especially her mother.

Wiliany lives in the town of San Francisco, south of Maracaibo. It was here that she crossed paths with Nuevo Amanecer, HI's local partner in Venezuela. After being identified by the team there, she was given rehabilitation sessions at home to help her become more autonomous. This has helped her to improve her motor functions, her upper body posture and her balance.

"Thanks to this support, Wiliany is making progress and becoming more independent every day," her mother explains. "We’ve also been shown how to help and accompany her at home. We’ve learned how to do massages and we help her with her rehabilitation exercises." 

Having outgrown her old walking frame, HI gave Wiliany a new one adapted to her environment and size. With this new walker, Wiliany can move around more independently, both at home and at school.

HI in Venezuela

Working in Colombia and Cuba since 1998, Bolivia since 2011 and Peru since 2018, HI has developed in-depth knowledge of the Latin American region. In 2019, as part of its response to the consequences of migration crises, HI launched operations in Venezuela.

Since then, the organization has been working to support communities with the most acute needs, running projects to improve access to essential services, such as health and food assistance. HI works in collaboration with local partners, other organizations and the authorities to protect populations experiencing extreme hardships. To assist indigenous communities in the state of Amazonas, HI promotes resilience and cohesion in the face of armed violence. Lastly, HI is working in the state of Apure to ensure that young people know their rights and to support their inclusion in the workforce.

Fleeing economic hardship and political unrest in their home country, 4 million Venezuelan refugees escaped to Colombia. Without jobs, housing, or support systems, the refugees have faced additional challenges caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Humanity & Inclusion is providing support – from financial aid to hygiene kits – to hundreds of Venezuelan refugees living in Colombia, where 1 million people have contracted the virus.

More than 200 Venezuelan refugee families are receiving regular financial assistance from Humanity & Inclusion to pay for housing, food, healthcare and other basic needs. Milagros Chacin was able to use cash provided by Humanity & Inclusion to catch up on rent payments and buy mattresses for her children so they don’t have to sleep on the floor of their makeshift home.

Humanity & Inclusion has also handed out food and hygiene kits containing items like soap and hand sanitizer. To dispel misinformation about the virus, Humanity & Inclusion has conducted awareness sessions on Covid-19. Humanity & Inclusion’s team has also translated 12 videos into Venezuelan and Colombian sign language to share prevention measures, Covid-19 symptoms, and other essential information with some of the most vulnerable people.

In addition to help Venezuelan refugees, Humanity & Inclusion is also helping indigenous people cope with the pandemic. “Many indigenous communities are still in full lockdown, or can no longer work or earn money, so our food distributions are extremely welcome,” said Debir Valdelamar, Deputy Project Officer for Humanity & Inclusion in Colombia.

Humanity & Inclusion continues to provide psychological support and rehabilitation care to mine victims in the regions of Cauca, Meta, Antioquia, Caqueta, and Nariño.

Humanity & Inclusion's response in Colombia since March

• In April 2020, Humanity & Inclusion distributed 80 food kits, one per family, to people living in the regions of Cauca and Nariño, and more than 200 hygiene kits.
• Humanity & Inclusion has trained members of national NGOs to include people with disabilities in their projects.
• Humanity & Inclusion has conducted awareness sessions on Covid-19, and translated 12 informational videos and a prevention guide into Venezuelan and Colombian sign language
• Humanity & Inclusion has provided remote psychological support to more than 150 Venezuelan refugees in the Maicao refugee centre in northern Colombia, and to people arriving in the cities of Bogota, Medellín, and Baranquilla. Humanity & Inclusion psychologists held Whatsapp sessions with those who needed them.
• Humanity & Inclusion has enabled 112 Venezuelan refugee families identified by a "vulnerability" survey to benefit from a small, one-off cash transfer.
• Humanity & Inclusion organized a series of virtual conferences on psychological first aid for caregivers and family members of people with disabilities.

Photo caption: A Venezuelan refugee sits in a wheelchair at a migrant reception center in northern Colombia.

Milagros Chacin and her family are among as many as 4 million refugees who have escaped the economic crisis in Venezuela by fleeing to Colombia. HI has given financial assistance to more than 200 refugee families, including Milagros Chacin’s, to help with basic necessities like buying food and paying rent.

Milagros Chacin left her job as a nurse behind when she, her husband, and their four children fled to Riohacha – a coastal Colombian town about 55 miles from the Venezuelan border – in July 2019.

“I couldn't even manage to feed my children anymore,” she said. "When we arrived in Colombia, we thought everything would be different. We hoped life would be better. We needed money, so we sold our phone, our shoes, even our children's shoes. My husband began scouring the streets for empty bottles to sell for recycling.”

As if uprooting their lives and fleeing to a new country wasn’t difficult enough, challenges caused by the Covid-19 pandemic have made circumstances even harder for refugee families as resources become scarcer.

“People lost their jobs and homes,” Milagros Chacin said. “The humanitarian canteen, where we used to eat, closed. We only eat once a day now. And we've already changed accommodation several times. It pushes you to the edge of despair.”

HI staff met Milagros Chacin in June and provided the family with financial assistance to help cover their basic needs and psychological support to push through such traumatic experiences. The family is living in a makeshift shelter made from plastic sheets.

"We used it to buy food and we paid our landlord the three months’ rent we owed him," Milagros Chacin explained. "I also bought mattresses so my children don't have to sleep on the floor anymore. The phone calls really gave us hope. It's so hard, living like this.”

Despite the hardships they’ve faced, Milagros Chacin and her family are hopeful for their future.

“My dream is to be self-sufficient one day, not dependent on anyone else,” she said. “We want to start our own small business so we can be free again.”

As part of its response to the Covid-19 crisis, Humanity & Inclusion is providing support to Venezuelan refugees in Colombia, where one million people have been infected by the virus. The impact of the epidemic has been dramatic.

Covid-19 has struck more than 980,000 people in Colombia. Many older people fear starvation or serious illness in a country where little or no provision is made for social assistance, pensions, and other welfare benefits. In recent months, the lockdown has seriously impacted the four million Venezuelans living in Colombia, who can no longer earn a living from the informal economy. In Colombia, the severe economic crisis caused by the epidemic has increased the precariousness of Venezuelan refugees who have lost their jobs and homes, and are unable to access food, drinking water, electricity, and the like.
 
The security situation is also extremely tense: “Armed groups have used the lockdown to tighten their grip over certain territories where the authorities have a weak hold," says Debir Valdelamar, Deputy Project Manager for Humanity & Inclusion in Colombia. "They have cast themselves as ‘Covid crisis controllers', sowing terror, asserting their authority, imposing curfews, carrying out attacks against people who meet without authorization, and so on."

Humanity & Inclusion has assisted Venezuelan refugees since April 2019, and adapted its response to the pandemic. With support from ECHO, the organization is currently allocating financial support on a six-month basis to more than 200 Venezuelan refugee families identified as highly vulnerable. Most use the money to pay for rent, food or healthcare.

Humanity & Inclusion has also handed out food and hygiene kits containing soap, hand sanitizer, and other items to help keep the virus at bay. Teams have conducted awareness sessions on Covid-19, which included 12 videos translated into Venezuelan and Colombian sign language, and a prevention guide, to inform the most vulnerable individuals on prevention measures, and Covid symptoms.

“The first lockdown in Colombia was national. Regional authorities now decide on local prevention measures, which vary from one department to another," explains Valdelamar. "Many indigenous communities are still in full lockdown, or can no longer work or earn money, so our food distributions are extremely welcome. In November, we plan to distribute food and hygiene kits to 3,000 families."

Humanity & Inclusion also continues to provide psychological support and rehabilitation care to mine victims in the departments of Cauca, Meta, Antioquia, Caqueta, and Nariño.

Snapshot of Humanity & Inclusion's response in Colombia since March 2020

• In April 2020, Humanity & Inclusion distributed 80 food kits, one per family, to people living in the departments of Cauca and Nariño, and more than 200 hygiene kits.
• Humanity & Inclusion has trained members of national NGOs to include people with disabilities in their projects.
• Teams have conducted awareness sessions on Covid-19, which included 12 videos translated into Venezuelan and Colombian sign language and a prevention guide to inform the most vulnerable on prevention measures, Covid symptoms, and so on. (Ongoing)
• Humanity & Inclusion has also provided remote psychological support to more than 150 Venezuelan refugees in the Maicao refugee center in northern Colombia, and to people arriving in the cities of Bogota, Medellín, and Baranquilla. Humanity & Inclusion psychologists held WhatsApp sessions with those who needed them.
• Lastly, Humanity & Inclusion has also enabled 112 Venezuelan refugee families identified by a "vulnerability" survey to benefit from a small, one-off cash transfer.
• We also organized a series of virtual conferences on psychological first aid for carers and family members of people with disabilities.

Photo caption: Migrant Reception Center, Maicao, northern Colombia.
© Coalición LACRMD

Since 2013, Venezuela has been facing a severe economic, political, and social crisis. Access to health care, sanitation facilities, and food has decreased significantly, and humanitarian needs are great. At least 3.4 million Venezuelans have fled worldwide, including 2.7 million to Latin American and Caribbean countries. Among them, more than one million people now live in Colombia.

Gregory Le Blanc, Humanity & Inclusion’s director in Colombia, explains the situation facing Venezuelan refugees in Colombia and shares details about our emergency response.

Gregory Le Blanc stands in a field in Colombia wearing an old HI vest (old brand alert!).

"The serious political and economic crisis in Venezuela makes life a little harder every day while more and more people move to neighboring countries. An estimated 3.4 million Venezuelans have fled around the world, including more than 2 million to Colombia. The Colombian authorities are overwhelmed by this influx of people and the needs to assist them. Women, children, older people and people with disabilities are worst affected.

Struggling to access basic services

The fact that some no longer have ID documents or residency permits, and are unaware how to normalize their situation in the country or what their rights are, makes it more difficult for them to access basic services such as healthcare and drinking water. In large cities and at major gathering points near borders, Venezuelans receive healthcare, and the most vulnerable have access to welfare services and the like. It is less easy to access psychological support, but it is just as important.

Families uprooted

In fact, people fleeing Venezuela are very vulnerable, socially and emotionally. They have been uprooted and live in precarious conditions, and this has a serious impact on their mental health. They feel frustration, despair, anxiety and may experience depression.

Humanity & Inclusion is there

Humanity & Inclusion provides them with psychological support in Medellin and La Guajira—on the northern border—and is preparing to intervene in Bogota and Barranquilla. HI also provides support to people who need help resolving legal issues (ID documents, formalizing their situation, etc.) in Medellin, in conjunction with the local council, the university, etc., and with HI’s lawyers. Our team of rehabilitation professionals also help train health service providers, in addition to providing care directly and/or through specialized centers. We also provide mobility devices—wheelchairs, crutches, and walkers—to those who need them.

Due to the scale of the needs and the length of the humanitarian crisis, we also plan to strengthen the socio-economic inclusion of Venezuelans in Colombia from 2020, based on our extensive experience in this sector.”

Since 2013, Venezuela has been facing a severe economic, political, and social crisis. Access to health care, sanitation facilities, and food has decreased significantly, and humanitarian needs are great. At least 3.4 million Venezuelans have fled worldwide, including 2.7 million to Latin American and Caribbean countries. Among them, more than one million people now live in Colombia.

Rehabilitation care for the most vulnerable

Since April 2019, Humanity & Inclusion has been providing psychological support to migrants in the Maicao transit center on the border with Venezuela. In collaboration with the NGOs, Danish Refugee Council and Pastoral Social (Caritas Colombia), Humanity & Inclusion also provides rehabilitation care for the most vulnerable people—people with disabilities, older adults, indigenous people— technical support, including training, to local rehabilitation organizations, and runs joint social cohesion activities for Colombians and Venezuelans to promote peaceful understanding between the two communities.

Psychological support

Humanity & Inclusion has also launched an emergency response in Medellín, the second largest city in Colombia, in collaboration with the City of Medellín. Our team provides support to more than 1,000 people from Venezuela, including psychological support through individual and group sessions, and legal support to access basic services such as health care.

Sports and cultural activities

Humanity & Inclusion organizes sports and cultural activities to strengthen the social cohesion and socio-cultural inclusion of migrants in Medellín. Our team will also work on behalf of migrants in the capital Bogota and Baranquilla on the Atlantic coast.

Venezuelans in Peru

Our team recently conducted a mission to Peru to assess the humanitarian needs of Venezuelan citizens who have fled to the country. We plan to carry out the same type of work in Peru, as Colombia. More to come!

Since 2013, Venezuela has been facing a severe economic, political, and social crisis. Access to health care, sanitation, and food is scarce and humanitarian needs are massive. More than 3 million Venezuelans have fled the country and are taking refuge in other Latin America countries and the Caribbean. Among them, more than a million people are in Colombia.

Psychological support in Maicao

Humanity & Inclusion is providing psychological support activities for migrants in the transit center of Maicao, on the Venezuelan border.

Basic services & social interaction in Medellín

In Medellín, Colombia's second largest city, our team is providing psychological support to more than 1,000 Venezuelan people. In collaboration with the Medellín City Council, we're ensuring that people have access to basic services such as health care. We are also organizing sports and other cultural activities to help strengthen social cohesion and socio-cultural integration of migrants in Medellín.

Rehabilitation care in La Guajira

In November 2018, Humanity & Inclusion assessed the needs of migrants in La Guajira, an entry point in northern Colombia, in collaboration with the Danish Refugee Council (DRC).

In collaboration with DRC and Pastoral Social (Caritas Colombia), Humanity & Inclusion plans to provide rehabilitation care for the most vulnerable—people with disabilities, older people, etc.—technical support (training, etc.) to local rehabilitation organizations, and organize social cohesion activities between Colombians and Venezuelans to promote a peaceful understanding between the different communities. 

Humanity & Inclusion in Colombia

Working in Colombia since 1998, Humanity & Inclusion promotes the full participation in Colombian society of people with disabilities, including victims of internal armed conflict, and their families. We also ensure that disability issues are taken into account in public policies. Since 2016, Humanity & Inclusion has extended its field interventions to include the prevention of accidents caused by landmines, and the clearance, through demining of affected areas. Learn more about our work in Colombia.

Humanity & Inclusion is preparing to launch a possible emergency response to aid Venezuelan refugees in Colombia. Venezuela has been experiencing economic, political, and social turmoil since 2013. At least 3.4 million Venezuelans have fled the country. More than one million Venezuelans have taken refuge in Colombia, according to the United Nations.

Present in Colombia since 1998, HI assessed the needs of migrants in La Guajira, a border town in northern Colombia. In conjunction with partner organizations DRC and Pastoral Social (Caritas Colombia), HI is hoping to launch the following activities:

• Psychological support to help migrants overcome trauma
• Rehabilitation for people with disabilities, older people, and other vulnerable populations
• Training in support of local rehabilitation organizations
• Peace building between communities

These activities would be carried out in the areas of La Guajira, Arauca, Atlántico, and Vichada, Colombia. HI is also monitoring the situation in Ecuador, Bolivia, and Peru.

To learn more about Humanity & Inclusion's work in Colombia, click here.

Venezuelan refugees in Colombia are in need of significant support and aid. Humanity & Inclusion teams are mapping out our emergency response options.

Venezuela has been confronted by a serious economic, political and social crisis since 2013. This has caused at least 3.4 million Venezuelans to flee, with 2.7 million have relocated to other Latin American and Caribbean countries, with one million refugees seeking refuge in Colombia, according to the United Nations. In just the past few months, the crisis has forced tens of thousands of Venezuelans to flee to neighboring countries.

Humanity & Inclusion has worked in Colombia since 1998. In 2017, teams assessed the needs of Venezuelans located in Cucuta, Colombia. In November 2018, Humanity & Inclusion assessed the needs of migrants in La Guajira, a crossing point in northern Colombia, in conjunction with the NGO Danish Refugee Council (DRC).

The organization is currently preparing for the possible launch of an emergency response, in conjunction with DRC and Pastoral Social (Caritas Colombia), which would include the following activities:

• psychosocial support to help Venezuelan migrants overcome their traumas
• rehabilitation care for people with disabilities, older people, indigenous people or any individual in a situation of vulnerability.
• technical support (training, etc.) to local rehabilitation organizations so they can take care of refugees and migrants in need
• promoting social cohesion and peaceful coexistence between different communities

These activities would be carried out in the areas of La Guajira, Arauca, Atlántico (Baranquilla) and Vichada (Puerto Carreno). Humanity & Inclusion would then aim to operate in urban areas (Bogota, Medellín, Cali).

Humanity & Inclusion is also monitoring the situation in Ecuador, Bolivia and Peru.

To learn more about Humanity & Inclusion's work in Colombia, click here.