Venezuela: following the earthquakes, HI is providing care for the injured

Essential rehabilitation services

More than 16,000 people injured – that is the heavy toll of the two earthquakes that struck Venezuela on 24 June. Many of them need urgent physical and functional rehabilitation, because early intervention is essential for a swift recovery from a serious injury, or to prevent long-term disabilities.

To support those affected by the disaster, HI’s emergency rehabilitation teams have been deployed to the temporary accommodation centres in La Guaira, which are housing several thousand people affected by the earthquakes. Having identified the priority needs, HI’s specialists are providing rapid assistance through personalised and tailored care.

“Our teams are providing care for people who need rehabilitation in this temporary camp and in the surrounding community, with a focus on including those who are often marginalised in this type of response, such as people with disabilities. As many had lost their walking sticks, crutches or wheelchairs in the chaos following the disaster, we are also providing them with adapted equipment and aids, enabling them to regain their mobility,” explains Yohanna Talloli, an inclusive humanitarian action specialist at HI.

HI teams have also begun deploying teams of psychologists to offer mental health and psychosocial support to people who are living with the trauma caused by the earthquakes. They are also distributing tailored hygiene kits to individuals living in temporary shelters.

“I just can’t get over it”

Vianey Zambrano is a survivor of the two earthquakes that struck Venezuela. Injured in the disaster and having lost loved ones and her home, she took refuge in a temporary shelter in La Guaira with her family. There, HI teams are providing her with emergency care.

“I used to live in a house in the community of La Lucha,” says Vianey. “When the earthquake struck, I wasn’t at home. When I returned, I didn’t recognise anything – the façade had disappeared, three houses had collapsed on top of it, and the walls were covered in cracks. Four people died. More than two weeks later, one of them is still there, under the rubble; the rescue teams haven’t yet been able to recover his body.”

“After the earthquakes, my family and I took refuge in a stadium. There, we spent our first few nights in tears, terrified, fearing further aftershocks. In the chaos that followed the earthquakes, I fell twice, landing hard on my hand. At first, I didn’t really pay much attention to it; I just took some painkillers. But in the days that followed, my hand swelled up a lot. Thankfully, HI helped me by providing medical care and putting me in touch with a health centre to have an X-ray.”

“Today, I’m feeling terrible, absolutely terrible. What’s happened to us is something you never really get over. Leaving your home and, when you return, finding nothing left. The neighbours, with whom we’ve spent our whole lives, who are suddenly no longer there; a six-year-old girl, one of my neighbours, whose dad is still buried under the rubble… I just can’t get over it.”