Sitting on a wood crate on the 3rd floor of an abandoned warehouse, Juan and his Mother have finally found shelter. Juan has cerebral palsy and has not been able to walk since his leg braces were swept away along with their home during the landslides that devastated the Venezuelan coast in December of 1999. The 3 flights of stairs make it difficult for Juan's mother, who is 7 months pregnant, to carry him down to the only 2 bathrooms that the shelter has available for the 108 people refuged here. Juan and his Mother, along with thousands of other Venezuelan Coastal residents, have been forced to seek refuge in abandoned buildings, warehouses, hotels, churches and even stables.
Many residents have nowhere else to go.
In numerous shelters the inhumane living conditions, over-crowding, diminishing international aid, and a lack of government assistance for the overwhelming number of displaced families has exacerbated an already volatile situation. The Governor relocated our community here in this cattle stable. We don't have safe drinking water, there is one bathroom for 30 families, each family has a small space separated by bed sheets to sleep 6 people, and numerous health related problems of skin diseases, diarrhea, and lice. Your presence here with us is a blessing. CWS has sent 4,000 hygiene kits and 1,500 infant kits to their Venezuelan partners to be organized and distributed to shelters throughout the country.