Annabel’s wish for her family


Life was once so different for Annabel and her family.


She lived with her husband and five children in a forested community near Venezuela’s Canaima National Park. As part of the Pemon-Taurepã ethnic group—which has called the area home for generations—her family made its living from tourism, helping guide visitors to some of the country’s natural wonders.


“Each day, I woke up with happiness, and then started my work,” said the 28-year-old.


Life suddenly changed in late February, when a local protest turned deadly. Armed groups attacked the community, and panic spread throughout the area.


Fearing for the safety of her children—who range in age from one to 11 years old—Annabel and her husband, Levy, were able to gather only bedsheets, clothing and a hammock before departing for the Brazilian border. Soon into their journey, others who were fleeing warned them that they couldn’t take the main road toward the border, so they chose a difficult, unmarked route through the hills.


As evening fell, Annabel and her family reached a small village on the border, called Tarauparu. The community members—who are also part of the Pemon-Taurepã ethnic group—welcomed them immediately.


Since the wave of violence in February, adequate shelter is increasingly scarce in Tarauparu. The small village’s population, usually home to only 263 people, has quadrupled with the arrival of 836 Venezuelan refugees seeking safety. Yet, with help from UNHCR and other organizations, the people of Tarauparu are showing incredible hospitality and have risen to the challenge.


UNHCR began helping soon after refugees started to arrive, delivering mattresses, blankets, kitchen sets, hygiene supplies, shelter materials, food, and other lifesaving assistance.


For the near future, Annabel wishes for her own shelter so that her family can have privacy and time to just be together. UNHCR is working with village leaders to help facilitate growing shelter needs. Above all, Annabel wants her children to be able to return to school.


“I would like for my children to study. To understand everything that’s going on around them. To tell those who come after what has happened. And to keep going.”


16 |


Hardship and hope


After arriving in the Colombian city of Maicao last year, Karen lived on the streets for seven months with her sons Jesus, 14, and Christian, aged three.


“We slept anywhere we could,” the 32-year-old explained with a weary look on her face.


In addition to the dangers of life on the streets, there were health hazards. Christian became sick from contaminated water, and spent nearly two months in hospital. While there, Karen met UNHCR staff who were assessing the needs of vulnerable Venezuelan refugees.


“They asked me where we slept, what we ate and what our health needs were.”


A lack of health care is precisely why Karen and her children had to leave Venezuela.


Christian was born with hydrocephalus, an accumulation of fluid in the brain that causes swelling and a range of mental and physical disabilities. As a result of the impairment—which occurred when Karen contracted the Zika virus during pregnancy—Christian has never been able to talk or walk.


Karen took him to several physicians in Venezuela. However, as the country’s healthcare system collapsed and doctors and medicine became increasingly scarce, prospects for Christian’s treatment and recovery virtually disappeared.


Christian’s condition is a race against time: if he doesn’t receive medical assistance, including critical surgeries, he will likely be permanently impaired. And that dilemma forced Karen and her children from an increasingly deteriorating situation into months of hardship, in search of hope.


At the hospital in Maicao, as Christian was recovering from waterborne bacterial infection, UNHCR identified the family as extremely vulnerable. The agency offered shelter and other lifesaving support at UNHCR’s Integrated Assistance Centre which opened in March.


Families there receive a tent, three hot meals per day, clean water, daily activities for children and—to Karen’s relief—health care.


“As soon as we arrived here, I felt relaxed,” Karen said. “I finally felt safe.”


©UNHCR/Vincent Tremeau


©UNHCR/Viktor Pesenti


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