With the funds raised in 2019 we are sponsoring one or more refugees from crisis-stricken Venezuela.
Due to the sensitive nature of this situation, all names have been changed and no photos of these individuals will be released in order to protect their identities. Some major details of their stories will be omitted.
VENEZUELA NOW
For this year’s fundraiser, I wanted to find and support a refugee family from Venezuela. Venezuela is currently facing one of the largest humanitarian crises of my lifetime, and I meet families on a daily basis who are directly affected by it. As I now work at one of the world’s largest international airports, I have been coming into contact with quite literally hundreds of Venezuelan passengers and loved ones of passengers who are separated from their families, unable to reunite and unable to make contact. Many are terrified and panicked, and my heart hurts for them every day.
An estimated 3 million Venezuelans have fled their country in the last couple of years amidst the current political, economic, and humanitarian crisis. As I write this, the majority of the country of Venezuela is without electricity and clean drinking water. Days like these have been occurring frequently since last year, but it is now the norm for outages to last a week at a time. People are dying of hunger, thirst, heat stroke, and other medical emergencies. Even common illnesses like the flu are proving fatal during a time when medication is sparse and hospitals lack power. With everything in shortage, residents are left with few options.
Those who try to flee by plane are met with cancelled flights. And those who want to return home to Venezuela to help their families experience the same problem. American Airlines, a major servicer of Venezuelan flights, has cancelled all flights to and from Venezuela for the foreseeable future. The smaller charter airlines who continue to service the country only depart a fraction of the time, as I see more and more flights being cancelled last minute. I have lost track of the number of times crying passengers or family members have begged for my help. I imagine this situation is only made worse by not being able to contact those family members for days at a time during a power outage.
ADRIANA'S STORY
Adriana was a very active part of her community in Venezuela. Not only was she an emerging lawyer, but she was also the “right hand man” to the founder of an organization that helped children battling cancer. She personally made visits to those children in the hospital, becoming quite attached to many of them.
Mateo, the founder of the organization that she worked for, was a prominent civil rights activist. In his grandest act of rebellion yet, Mateo made a very visible statement against the Venezuelan government. He quickly thereafter went into hiding, as the government labeled him Public Enemy #1. After several months in hiding, he and his team were found and brutally assassinated by Venezuelan state security forces.
Adriana didn’t know it yet, but she was no longer safe. The government had begun searching out anyone with ties to the fallen rebel, and as a close personal friend, she was no exception. About a month after his assassination, Adriana’s home was stormed by masked men, and she was abducted at gunpoint in front of her mother. Her family frantically searched for her at every government building in the city. One government security agency told them she wasn’t there, but that they “should check the morgue.”
Over the next several days, as her captors attempted to extract information from her, Adriana was tortured, starved, and sexually assaulted. She was explicitly told that she would pay for her friend’s actions. However, Adriana had nothing to do with Mateo’s civil rights work and rebellion. Nonetheless, 5 days later she was brought before a military court and charged with treason, rebellion, and theft of government property—the same charges that would have been brought on Mateo. She was then unlawfully held in a military prison under inhumane conditions for 45 days. At the time, 33 other people were captured, tortured, and imprisoned for the same reason.
She was eventually released on parole due to the lack of evidence against her. But when an assassination attempt was made on Venezuelan President Maduro some months later, the government called for the (re)arrest of anyone affiliated with Adriana’s late friend. That was the moment she realized her only alternative would be to flee the country. Leaving behind all of her family and friends, she made her way to the U.S. border, where she was put into ICE custody upon her arrival.
Adriana remained in ICE captivity for 5 months, after which she was granted asylum in the United States. She has now been living freely in this country for a little over a year! But asylum wasn’t the solution to all of her problems. Adriana had to start life from scratch, with no family or friends in the U.S. to rely on. She had to find housing and work with no money and no knowledge of English, all while dealing with the ongoing effects of psychological trauma.
Adriana has lived so many of life’s greatest horrors, and has pushed through, despite separation from her home and all of the people who love and support her. To say Adriana is resilient is an understatement. She is the epitome of strength, a testament to the indomitable spirit of humanity, and an inspiration to the people of Venezuela. There is truly no one more deserving of our help than Adriana.