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Accompanying, rebuilding and strengthening the communities affected by the earthquakes

 

The needs of the families affected by the earthquakes are still there, some changing over time. We continue to provide support, responding to their basic needs ... food, personal hygiene products, health, they have lost so much! but we also look to strengthen networks, peer support, rebuilding of trust to find new ways to carry on together. To dream again and recover hope.

Thanks to support from many people, organizations and volunteers that walk with us, we continue to be present in communities in La Guaira and Morón, accompanying the families there. Our commitment is to continue working with them, hearing their priorities and strengthening their own capacities for rebuilding.

Affected by heavy rains

 

Listening, sharing, building solutions together ...

We meet with the communities to identify needs, share experiences and look for solutions together. We plan for ways to feed the most vulnerable children: teams come together, women are trained, places are chosen, and children are identified to take part. Volunteers prepare to support the medical visits... there is much joy and hope. Some of the people that have lost everything are those that engage the most, they want to help others.

Affected by heavy rains
Affected by heavy rains
Affected by heavy rains
Affected by heavy rains
Affected by heavy rains
Affected by heavy rains
Affected by heavy rains
Affected by heavy rains

Direct support to recover the essential

There are so many families that still have basic needs for their everyday lives. We continue to provide support in the form of hygiene kits and bags of food. 70 stoves/kitchens were provided for families that needed them for preparing their food at home or wherever they are now living. In addition to the direct support to families, we provide support to schools and health centres in the affected areas. The La Granja school in Morón was badly damaged, and the school year has already started ... in addition to their usual 125 students, the school now has an extra 200 new children from nearby schools that are completely unfit for use. We have provided a water tank, kitchen and are currently evaluating with them needs to provide furniture and school materials. Strengthening these spaces helps children access education and supports the wellbeing of the whole community.

Health and nutrition

The health and nutritional needs of the families affected by the earthquakes continue; we carry on with mobile clinics in various communities, treating around 100 people per clinic, providing medical and nutritional treatments for those that need them.

We support women in the communities, training them to take measurements, engage with the medical visits, allowing them to provide continued health support for their families.

Affected by heavy rains
Affected by heavy rains
Affected by heavy rains
Affected by heavy rains

Supporting displaced families

Some of the families that relocated to Mérida from La Guaira, having lost everything, have returned with the hope of getting a new house. Others have stayed. For these, we provide food, health and hygiene support for every two weeks. With them, we have started raising chickens and planting vegetable gardens that will not only improve their nutrition but also generate a little income. The displacement, the loss of home and the uncertainty not only affect them physically, but also affect their emotional wellbeing. We want to accompany them, provide support that helps them through the changes they have gone through and adapt to their new realities... we want them to feel as part of the community.

Affected by heavy rains
Affected by heavy rains
Affected by heavy rains
Affected by heavy rains

... new communities, new allies

We are getting new requests for support from areas of La Guaira and Carabobo; some have not had any support, others did, but it has now stopped. We come to them, want to listen, understand their needs and see how we can provide support. We continue to expand support, thanks to working with others. With a student group from the UCV, with doctors from HazloHoy, with NGOs like Toneladas de Amor, and long-standing allies like CHAMOS, we weave networks that allow us to increase our reach. Hundreds of fundraising activities, individual donors and companies, volunteers all over the world, people who continue to add their grain of sand, small or large, helping sustain our work and finding new ways to support those most in need. Our infinite thanks for being here.

even when the light goes ... we carry on ...

We have dedicated the last 4 newsletters to sharing the work in support of the communities affected by the earthquakes. The wound is deep, hurts and there is so much to do, we will carry on doing. Thank you for being there with us.

Our work in various projects around the country does not stop, walking with hundreds of vulnerable people in the rest of the country, in an emergency that has lasted over 10 years, without food, medicine, with power outages increasing every day... with them, we carry on, through the difficulties, defending happiness, hope and building spaces for dignity of life and a better country.

With our next update, we will share these stories that you help write through your support. Thank you for keeping the lights on, even through power outages.

 

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