Verónica Guillent, 25, says she left her small village in Venezuela for Brazil with a bottle of water, two loaves of bread and a packet of cookies to eat.
Jeyver, 7, from Venezuela, is the single mother of Keyner, 4, and Josely, 1-year-old. On August 12, 2021, they sailed from Barbacoa in northern Venezuela for Brazil.
The journey to the border took five days, during which time Verónica enlisted the help of other immigrants who followed the same route to feed the children.
“I left Venezuela without even half a bolivar in my pocket. When the children started complaining of hunger, very nice people we met on the way gave the oldest two meals to the oldest and milk to the youngest,” Venezuelan told BBC News Brasil. . . . “The thing they asked me the most was how long it took to get there,” she remembers with tears in her eyes.
The journey started on foot. According to the immigrants, when they reached the main road that would take them to Brazil, Verónica and her children wanted to board the strangers and continued the journey.
“We encountered the rain and walking for hours. Hitchhiking was also pretty scary, especially being alone,” he says. “In between one stretch and the other, we had to sleep on the sidewalk next to the highways. I couldn’t actually blink—I was constantly watching the kids.”
“I wouldn’t recommend that other women do what I do because I know it can be very dangerous.”
The family had to enter Brazil secretly due to the border closure – the Venezuelan border was closed for almost two years due to the covid-19 pandemic and was only released in February this year.
“We had to walk on a very unstable path, and I fell on my lap with my daughter when we were crossing some puddles. But we were walking with other people and they helped me,” she says.
Verónica was hospitalized as soon as she arrived in Pacaraima, the town closest to the Venezuelan border. She reports that she did not eat during the trip in order to feed her children with the small donations they received.
“I was hospitalized for three days on saline solution because I was dehydrated, had fever, vomiting, and had a lot of dizziness,” he says.
As soon as she was discharged, Verónica was transferred to an organization that welcomed migrant women. There she claims to have received support to officially register in Brazil and to give her the National Immigrant Registration Card, the most important document of an immigrant in Brazil.
A few weeks later the family moved to Boa Vista, where he reportedly enlisted the help of a lady who took him with her children for four months. Solidarity soon smiled at him again: a Venezuelan on his way to Rio Grande do Sul donated a refrigerator, bed, blender and fan for his new home.
Currently, Verónica works informally as a day laborer, manicurist, and doing laundry and ironing for neighbors. He is supported by the “Ven, Tú Puedes” project, an initiative to welcome Venezuelan immigrants from the human rights organization Vision World, where he receives professional training courses.
“I got permanent job offers but couldn’t accept them because I don’t have anyone to leave the kids with,” she says. But my biggest dream is to start my own business in Brazil,” he said.
In Venezuela, a single mother claims to live with her mother and work as a maid, but the $5 (about R$25) she earns for cleaning is not enough to feed the family.
“With that salary I could barely afford a pack of diapers, a liter of milk and some cornstarch. The economic situation was getting worse and the kids weren’t growing well,” she says.
“I always wanted God to be in Brazil what I didn’t have in Venezuela, and everything I do is for them. They are everything to me. If my mother is going to starve in Venezuela, will she look for a job in Brazil for three months? I chose to bring “We went through difficulties, but we succeeded,” he said.
Stories like Verónica’s are not uncommon in an immigrant context. According to a study published in December by UN Women, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), women represent 54% of the Venezuelan population staying in shelters in Roraima.
The study also shows that 91% of sheltered Venezuelans have children, but the unemployment rate drops more for women – almost 34% of sheltered Venezuelans are unemployed compared to 28% for men.
Data from the “Ven, Tú Puedes” project, frequented by Verónica, confirms the truth. About 60% of the mothers supported by the organization are heads of family, that is, they are responsible for most of the household income.
The most recent federal government survey, published in December 2021, identified 287,000 regular Venezuelan immigrants and refugees living in Brazil. According to the United Nations, Venezuela’s economic and social situation is the main reason for migration.
‘We can beat anything’
Jairobis Parras is also part of this group of Venezuelan single mothers who decided to go to Brazil. In the country since November 2021.
“I felt I had to leave Venezuela to provide better living conditions so that my son can access quality education and have a better future than mine,” the 31-year-old Venezuelan told BBC News Brasil.
Jairobis left his hometown of Bolivar, in the province of Monagas, with his 7-year-old son, Santiago. They hitchhiked with a neighbor who works as a truck driver.
“We traveled for two days and only stopped for a few hours to sleep, but we didn’t even get out of the car,” he says.
The Venezuelan was welcomed by friends in Pacaraima and moved to live with family members in Boa Vista shortly after regularizing his immigrant status. His mother, Noris, 49, came to Brazil about three years ago with her two children for treatment for kidney failure.
“One of the highlights of living in Brazil so far has been the quality of the schools here and it’s much better than in Venezuela,” he says.
“My son has had great experiences and is even seeing a psychologist. I feel like he’s no longer struggling with his studies or that he’s being very rebellious.”
Jairobis was also welcomed by World Vision, where he got a job as a supermarket cashier at a local chain.
The Venezuelan was born with a physical disability and without a left hand. “I was pretty insecure when I started working, but gradually I got to know my colleagues. Everyone was very helpful and helped me adapt,” she says.
According to Jairobis, her experiences while traveling to Brazil helped her feel more confident in her abilities as a mother.
“I didn’t expect to have a child, and when Santiago was born I was alone without his father’s help. But as soon as he was born, he taught me to be a mother, to be caring, loving and caring, things I wasn’t before,” she says.
“Watching it grow inside of me brought new experiences that I’ve never had before. I was fighting for it.”
The Venezuelan says she helps other immigrants, now single mothers, adjust to Brazil, advises and caters to those in need.
“I want other mothers who feel overwhelmed like me to know that they don’t need a husband to carry on. We can conquer everything on our own.”
source: Noticias
