Ecuador. What would you do if you had to flee your country and leave everything behind?
Due to the ongoing crisis in Venezuela, Diana had to leave her country. She is one of the first Venezuelans we met in Alluriquín, one of the new area where AVSI Ecuador is implementing ACTIVADOS, a project fostering local integration and peaceful coexistence between migrants and the host community.
The Latin America and Caribbean region is still facing an unprecedented refugee and migrant crisis.
Eduardo Stein - Joint Special Representative for Venezuelan refugees and migrants (IOM – UNHCR) recently stated that "In the coming year it is projected that the total number of Venezuelan refugees and migrants worldwide will increase from 4.5 million in October 2019 to 6.5 million in December 2020, nearly 85% of whom will be found in the region". In addition, there are millions of people in transit, like those who have to cross the border to meet basic needs, as well as refugees and migrants who were living in Venezuela and who are now returning to their countries of origin.
To address this unprecedented movement in the region, AVSI Ecuador is now expanding the reach of ACTIVADOS, funded by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), to foster local integration, peaceful coexistence and to protect Venezuelan refugees and migrants.
Along with our activities in Manabí, AVSI Ecuador is operating in the capital Quito and two towns in the Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas province (Santo Domingo and Alluriquín). AVSI is identifying a couple of neighborhoods per area where there is a significant number of Venezuelan refugees and migrants to help them find decent accommodation. AVSI is also supporting the host communities, especially the most vulnerable, to address their own pre-existing needs. AVSI works to strengthen existing community networks involved in the integration process, collaborating with partners from the humanitarian, development, public and private sectors.
Diana is one of the first Venezuelans we met in Alluriquín. She left Venezuela a year ago with her two kids, Ordanys and Odamyer, and now lives in a house with six other Venezuelan families.
Photographer Ana Caroline de Lima met Diana in December 2019 and told her story through this photo gallery.
Alluriquín, Ecuador ACTIVADOS Project UNHCR
Once a soldier in Venezuela, Diana had to migrate to Ecuador with her two young children, because of the ongoing crisis. Today she works in a small bar near her new home in Alluriquín. In order to work at night as a bartender, Diana needs to leave her children Ordanys and Odamyer with other Venezuelan families.
Photo by Ana Caroline De Lima
Alluriquín, Ecuador ACTIVADOS Project UNHCR
A small and old mattress. That’s all Diana and her two children had when they moved to Alluriquín, Ecuador. She managed to cover the rent from her bartending salary, but did not have money for anything else. Now, thanks to the help of AVSI and UNHCR, Diana and her children have beds, mattresses, pillows, blankets, and basic furniture.
Photo by Ana Caroline De Lima
Alluriquín, Ecuador ACTIVADOS Project UNHCR
Every day Diana arrives at the bar at 5pm, "I have to take care of everything here, from serving drinks, work the cash register, DJing, and even handling drunk clients. When it's time to close the bar, I do that too. But honestly, I don't mind. I'm glad the owner trusts me so much. I believe that he trusts me because I used to be a soldier in Venezuela. If you can be a woman soldier there, you can handle pretty much anything."
Photo by Ana Caroline De Lima
Alluriquín, Ecuador ACTIVADOS Project UNHCR
In order to bartend at night, Diana must leave her children under the watch of other Venezuelan families. Pictured here is an ordinary evening, Ordanys and Odamyer have just finished showering in the building’s public bathroom.
Photo by Ana Caroline De Lima
Alluriquín, Ecuador ACTIVADOS Project UNHCR
Ordanys (right, in a flower dress) is 6 years old and wants to be a police officer when she grows up. "My mum used to be a soldier in Venezuela, but she had to leave with us. I want to go back home and do the same thing that my mum used to do!" Her friend, Kellymar, is also Venezuelan and met Ordanys in the building where they are living. "I want to work with computers and cell phones. I think it's great to have little machines that you can use to connect with anywhere in the world!".
Photo by Ana Caroline De Lima
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