Alexandra, her husband Juan, and their 6-year-old daughter have been in Cucuta, Colombia, for several months. They left Caracas, Venezuela, because the situation there had become unbearable. “It was awful,” she said. They lived quite close to the demonstrations that have been roiling the Venezuelan capital, and tensions between police, protesters, and residents had grown.…
Venezuelan Walkers Find Christian Welcome High in the Andes
Hundreds and even thousands of Venezuelan migrants cross into Colombia each day, leaving behind chaos and deprivation. They’re hoping to find safety and economic opportunity in their neighbor nation or other countries farther south, such as Ecuador and Peru. But the journey is demanding, dangerous, and filled with uncertainty. Who knows how they’ll handle the…
Border Clinic Provides Medical Care for Displaced Venezuelans
Dozens of Venezuelan migrants line up at 8 a.m. every Monday to Friday outside the Samaritan’s Purse medical clinic in Maicao, Colombia, located less than eight miles from the Venezuelan border. Another line will form about 1 p.m. for a second round of doctors’ visits. These men, women, and children have fled Venezuela where food…
Helping Venezuelan Migrant Families in Colombia Make a New Start
Petra said that she left her home in Venezuela because “prices kept rising and rising, and it was too expensive.” Massive inflation from an economic crisis in the South American country has led to the influx of nearly 2 million Venezuelan migrants into Colombia over the past few years. Petra, 52, has found it challenging…
‘The Heavens Were Opened’
Atop a rocky, clay-dirt hill on the outskirts of Cúcuta, Colombia, you can cast your gaze across an invisible border and see beyond the river to the towns of San Antonio and Ureña in Venezuela. Walk down the main road from this humble peak and hang a left. Descend an unreasonably steep but paved slope…
Strong Hand of Love
Andar en sus zapatos
Adriana knew she had to leave Venezuela when one of her sons was so weak from going without food that he didn’t have the energy to get out of bed. He was so pale and motionless that she thought he might be dead. Then, he blinked but stared ahead with a glazed expression that sent…
Press Release Samaritan’s Purse Launches Spanish Website
Disaster Relief Landing Page
Samaritan’s Purse Clinic Provides Expectant Mothers Needed Medical Care in Colombia
Many of the mothers-to-be who visit the Samaritan’s Purse maternal health clinic in Puerto Santander, Colombia, suffer signs of malnutrition as they and their families struggle to make ends meet. A majority of the women are Venezuelans who’ve fled their homeland in recent years and are trying to start a new life in the nation…