From gray skies to rainbows

Carla migrated from Venezuela to Guyana fleeing the economic crisis in her country. Upon arriving at her new destination she faced multiple risks, including abuse and gender-based violence. Now, thanks to the support of UNICEF and its partners, she has a new opportunity to build a better future for her child.

Carla and her son Miguel¹ play barefooted in the sand of a small beach on the edge of the Mazaruni River, one of the rivers that borders the port city of Bartica, Guyana.

A storm is approaching, the heavy gray clouds threatening to end the game. The sound that sets the scene is a sample of the country's cultural diversity: a mix of reggaeton and traditional Indian music sounds.

Miguel was born in 2021 in Guyana, but Carla comes from 1,739 kilometres away, from the state of Sucre, in Venezuela, where she was born 33 years ago. Being able to play with her son today is the result of a long and difficult journey for both.

After residing in different cities in Venezuela in search of better living conditions, she decided to emigrate. “I tried to look for a place where I could feel good,” she remembers. She arrived in Guyana in 2017 after an acquaintance told her about the opportunities the country could offer.

In Guyana the first stop was the mining town of Puruni. Carla had arrived with the hope of more work and a better economy. But the first night was hard and would mark her forever.

^[1] The names of Carla and Miguel are fictional. They have been changed to protect their identities.

Noticing that she was new in town, a man approached her and offered help and work. Carla was happy. After travelling so much, she saw hope in this new opportunity. She got into the man's car. After a while, she noticed that the man was getting further and further away from town. Frightened, she jumped out of the moving vehicle.

After she managed to return, she told some women about her ordeal. They told her that kidnapping of women was a common practice. Carla learned that night that her journey was not going to be easy, and that she had to be careful where she placed her trust. “In the mines as such, there is no law. They are distant places, many times without coverage,” she remembers.

In Puruni, Carla had few job options and insufficient income. She had multiple jobs, mainly in kitchens, and often worked for people who did not care to pay. She says that she felt in danger on several occasions, having to accept jobs she did not want in order to be able to keep up with the bills.

It was during this time that she became pregnant. Finding work was becoming increasingly difficult and in the middle of the pregnancy she separated from the baby's father. And her health was in decline after she had contracted malaria several times.

Carla felt desperate and trapped, but above all, alone. She didn't want to leave her room. ”As I felt bad, I couldn't find what to do because I wasn't in good health. And financially I was not stable,” she recalls.

Support systems away from home

Carla is an independent woman. She speaks softly and slowly. She doesn't like to bother anyone and is used to taking care of herself. But, during her pregnancy, she often questioned what to do when she found herself so alone in a country that was not her own.

It was at that moment that she finally decided to seek help. She went to a non-profit organization, an UNICEF implementing partner, that works with children and the migrant population in Guyana, called Blossom Inc. “I decided to go to them because of the baby. I didn't think so much about myself, I thought about the baby," she explains.

UNICEF works in alliance with multiple civil society actors, in order to have a direct impact on children and their families. “They play that catalyst role that helps us reach all communities and thus provide services directly to those who need it most,” explains UNICEF representative for Guyana and Suriname, Nicolas Pron.

UNICEF supports Blossom Inc and other organizations through the Children Advocacy Centers. These centers provide safe spaces for children and their families, so that when they have been victims of abuse, exploitation, violence or abandonment, they can talk about it in a safe environment.

Thanks to this alliance and with the help of the organization, Carla was able to leave the Puruni mines, since the area did not have the appropriate medical conditions to attend a birth. Once relocated to the city of Bartica, she had access to medical services, help with her immigration procedures, a room, food and hygiene utensils.

Timely attention to Carla's situation allows Miguel, who is now two years old, to be a healthy, restless and curious child. He concentrates intensely when playing, but gets bored quickly. He wants more. It requires constant attention. He has a lot of energy and wants to do everything at the same time: jump, play with water, watch videos, play with stuffed animals and pretend he is a dinosaur while he runs.

“Every boy and girl in Guyana must have an opportunity to live a life free of violence. Right to protection, to freedom, to happiness. That is the right of every boy and girl in Guyana, regardless of whether they are Guyanese or from a migrant community,” says Pron.

The challenges of migration

Carla is part of the 23,700 Venezuelans in Guyana, according to data from the Interagency Coordination Platform for Refugees and Migrants. Blossom Inc, an organization that works with migrants in seven regions of the country, has established that Venezuelans are around 80% of the migrants. The rest come from Brazil, Cuba and Haiti.

Regardless of their nationality, migrants face multiple obstacles when arriving in this South American country. While the Guyana government offers access to free health services; access to education, decent work, food and shelter are still difficult for those who migrate. The main challenge, especially for migrants from Venezuela, is the language barrier since Guyana is an English-speaking country.

Mining areas are particularly dangerous for migrant women who face violence, exploitation and sexual trafficking.

“Life as a migrant is never simple and no matter how many support services we can give them, it will always be difficult. So we always have to be there for them,” explains Shona Jones, Migration Manager at UNICEF partner Blossom Inc.

Hope in the future

For a migrant, the sacrifice of being far from home is always linked to the possibilities of the future. Of a better future for their families. For Carla, that future is based on the hope of more opportunities for her son Miguel.

“With all the experiences I have had, I still have a lot of faith, a lot of hope. And, the most positive thing that has happened to me is that now I have my son and that thanks to the constant struggle I can be with him,” says Carla.

Thanks to the work of UNICEF and its allies on the field, Carla, like other migrants, receives psychosocial support to help her go through the complex situations that come with adapting to a new country, language and culture. “The psychologist has helped me see things from another point of view when I have felt distressed or confused,” thanks Carla.

She has been learning English little by little. She doesn't speak it fluently yet, but understands enough to navigate everyday activities. Miguel is growing up as a bilingual child who lives between two cultures. He says “come, come” in English to ask his mother to come closer. He understands when his mother tells him “no more” in Spanish.

“I want a stable future for my son. I want him to be a good man, a studied man, a wise man. That's why I'm trying again and again, so that he can have a normal life like every child,” wishes Carla.

A normal life full of games. The gray clouds fail to interrupt the game and instead give way to a luminous rainbow, which ends in the middle of the river.

Carla looks at it while taking a deep breath. She arrived in Guyana through this river. It reminds her of the landscapes of Venezuela. The previous life. "You come to the shore to breathe fresh air and that's when you feel like 'oh, what a relief,'" she says. She likes to take a moment and absorb that peace. To continue thinking about the future of her family. Think about the life to come and continue playing with Miguel.

UNICEF works for the well-being of families who had to leave their countries. Through programs implemented by local partners, it allows[just as Carla is able to play with Miguel] thousands of migrants to receive help in host countries throughout the region.