AVSI - Asociazione Volontari per il Servizio Internazionale (Venezuela)

AVSI has been present in the country since 2000, following a severe flood that caused thousands of deaths in the regions of Vargas and Miranda, near Caracas. Since 2019, AVSI has renewed its interest in working in Venezuela and has begun to operate in response to the complex humanitarian emergency that the country is experiencing, as part of the Regionalization Program together with Peru, Mexico and Ecuador.

Since 2002, AVSI has supported the San Antonio Foundation of Humocaro in the state of Lara through the Distance Support project for 300 children. The Foundation, born from the friendship with the monks of the nearby Trappist monastery, currently manages a retirement home for 20 elderly people, an educational center for children and a pediatric center that also includes a dental clinic.

In addition, AVSI is working with the school system in the State of Yaracuy with the World Food Program (WFP), to provide food assistance to 60 Educational Units in the region, reaching more than 8,000 people. This program has allowed the rehabilitation of the infrastructure of the kitchens and school canteens of the beneficiary schools.

Finally, in the State of Falcón we are developing the Food Assistance and Livelihood Program in the municipalities of Falcón and Colina, where more than 100 people participate in a vocational training program in the bakery or handicraft sector. With this program, we aim to support mothers, representatives and family members of students in special education schools, helping them to start income-generating activities. In addition, this program, developed in collaboration with the World Food Program (WFP), includes a food assistance component for its beneficiaries.

Today, Venezuela is experiencing one of the largest migratory phenomena in the history of Latin America and we are alongside Venezuelan refugees in host countries such as Brazil and Ecuador