ADRA Colombia Provides Medical Assistance to Venezuelan Migrants Returning Home
Medical staff of ADRA Colombia’s Mobile Unit stationed in the city of Bucaramanga, Colombia on June 25, 2020, at the Centenario Park, to assist Venezuelan migrants who are on their way back to their home. More than 80,000 Venezuelan migrants have made the journey back to Venezuela on foot amid the pandemic crisis which has affected the way to support their families in Colombia. [Photo: ADRA Colombia]
The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) in Colombia is helping hundreds of Venezuelan migrants who are making their way back to their country on foot after losing their jobs in Colombia due to the pandemic crisis.
According to the latest Colombia Migration report of April, 2020, more than 80,000 Venezuelans have returned home out of the 1,825,000 spread across Colombia. The government reports that many continue to journey back home with their belongings after losing their home and a way to support their families.
Amid that situation, ADRA Colombia set up their Adventist Mobile Unit in highways, and strategic points in cities like Bogota, Medellin, Bucaramanga, and Cututa–where many travelers stop on the way to the northern border with Venezuela.
“Every week the mobile unit sets up in a pre-determined city with a working team that surveys the most busy roads and highways in communication with other agencies to better respond to cities where the demand for physical, emotional and spiritual assistance increases,” said Jaír Florez, ADRA Colombia director. The journey is approximately 200 kilometers, and could take four days or more traveling on foot or through challenging weather conditions, he said.
Venezuelan migrants wait at the Centenario Park in Bucaramanga, in north Colombia to be assisted with medical services, June 25, 2020. [Photo: ADRA Colombia]
Many of the individuals, the mobile unit staff tends to are persons with trauma from the long journey on foot, with blood pressure issues, with different types of pain in their body, asthma problems, underweight issues and pregnant women.
The Adventist Mobile Unit has also provided primary care in cities like Medellin and Bucaramanga for cases that require an appointment and more intensive medical care, lab work and medicines prescribed by a physician.
Health professionals who assist persons in need said that many are grateful for the service, for meeting their physical needs but also for listening to them and giving them hope. “We strengthen them to continue on their journey during this complicated time,” said Mauricio Cancelado, a nurse who has been assisting dozens of people every week. “They find in ADRA a friend that supports them and doesn’t abandon them.”
The mobile unit is stationed by one of teh main roads connecting Cucuta and Bucaramanga in north Colombia, on July 13, 2020, where Venezuelan travelers are making their journey on foot back to Venezuela. [Photo: ADRA Colombia]
In addition, to the assistance to Venezuelan travelers, community members are also being helped with medical needs during the time that the mobile unit is stationed by a park or a designated spot to assist those in need, said Flórez. “This has allowed this initiative to be seen and be more receptive among the migrant population,” he said. Also, government officials in Bucaramanga and throughout the country see ADRA as a complementary support to other services the government is providing.
Other organizations like the Red Cross in Colombia, Aldeas infantiles SOS, World Vision, the Humanitarian Network and others took part in complementary activities with ADRA Colombia, said Flórez. For example, according to Flórez, World Vision donated 1,000 hygiene kits to ADRA Colombia to be distributed to the Venezuelan travelers that ADRA’s mobile unit sees every week.
Since May 2020, more than 1,500 Venezuelans have been helped free of cost by the Adventist Mobile Unit as they travel to the border with Venezuela, reported Flórez. The emergency medical response project is scheduled to end in mid November, but ADRA leaders are requesting an extension without cost to donors so that more individuals can be helped.
A person is being helped by a medical professional of the ADRA Colombia’s mobile unit stationed in the Corcova town by the main highway that connects Bucaramanga with Cucuta, in Colombia, on July 13, 2020. [Photo: ADRA Colombia]
To learn more about ADRA Colombia and its projects and iniciatives, visit adracolombia.org