Wilmore Raúl Silva and his wife left Venezuela looking for security, food and health for his two children. Getting to Ecuador and rebuild their life is the main goal. 

Many have undertaken by themselves the journey from Venezuela to Colombia, whereas many other have taken along their partner and children. On the road is usual to find Venezuelan families made up of five or even ten people. They walk dragging suitcases of all sizes where they carry all their belongings they managed to pack. They walk to reach the border between Colombia and Ecuador.  They say they have friends and contacts in Ecuador, Peru and Chile, thriving countries where they hope to rebuild their lives.   

By the end of July 2018, around 400 Venezuelans were camping off the Cali Bus Terminal Station, in the sector called “Jarrillón”. This situation was sorted out thanks to a coordinated action of a number of institutions which registered those people, provided them with assistance and help to be transported towards the migration check post located at the Rumichaca International Bridge (Ipiales, Nariño province). 

Wilmore Raúl Silva and Omir Elena Castro, are one of many couples who found shelter in a migrant camp. Together with their two children, one adolescent and a baby just one year old, set out from Valencia, in the State of Carabobo in Venezuela. They crossed the border with Colombia through one of the crossing points existing in the Arauca province.

Omir Elena headed a kindergarten, and Wilmore Raúl was electrician; in spite of their jobs in Venezuela, the family decided to undertake this journey because, according to them, food and medicines are out of reach in their country,  “A four months’ salary is needed to buy a box of diapers … The need to provide security and food to my two children prompted us to leave the country", says Omir Elena.

The first in leaving Venezuela was his husband, who took the risk with a family group. He was looking for a job enabling him to save some money to pay for the displacement of his family. He, his wife and children got together later in Cali.  

“We want to get to Quito; over there we have a friend and we are coordinating to start working and settle in there. We pray God for things to come out well and that we can manage to buy a small house, as we had to sell our house in Venezuela, and, well … we are going to try to save some money to send to our family in Venezuela to somehow alleviate their hardships”, says Wilmore Raúl.  

However, day-to-day expenses made difficult for them to leave Cali and had to wait in the “Jarrillon” migrant camp while they gathered enough money to start again the journey headed south. 

Thanks to the humanitarian operation for relocation, coordinated by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), with financial support from the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF),  together with Migración Colombia, the Ombudsman Office,  the Governor’s Office of Valle del Cauca, the Mayor’s Office of Cali, the Archdiocese of Cali, the Social Pastoral, the Scalabrinianos Missioners, the Foundation House of Older Adults, the International Red Cross, the World Food Program (WFP) and others, hundreds of Venezuelans could be transported from Cali to the Rumichaca International Bridge (Ipiales, Nariño province), at the border with Ecuador. This operation was undertaken between July-August 2018.    

Wilmore Raúl and Omir Elena’s family was one of many benefited with this operation. Together with them, 77 people were transported on three buses that left Cali on 1 August at 5 P.M. More than 600 Venezuelans trapped in Cali managed to get to the Rumichaca Bridge to head towards other South American countries.   

Oscar Ospina, who works as territorial liaison officer for the IOM/CERF project in Bogota, maintained that, in order to sort out the emergency in Cali, the project sought to stabilize the Venezuelan families providing them food and temporary shelters. They were also registered in the IOM Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) in order to analyze their vulnerability level. The project also provided them with transportation and economic resources to ensure an orderly and dignified transfer to the city of destination.  

“This was like a light in the darkness because, besides myself, my wife and my children, other people received help (…). We felt happy because we headed towards our envisaged destination; we felt our target becoming a reality; indeed, we are only hours away to get to our destination, in Ecuador” said Wilmore holding up his little son in his arms while traveling in one of the buses put at the disposal of Venezuelans willing to head towards other South American countries. 

The operation lasted until the first week of August, and provided humanitarian help and assistance to Venezuelan population in temporary shelters in Cali and Ipiales.   

After a 9-hour trip and 475 km, the buses got to the Good Samaritan temporary shelter in Ipiales, offered by the Diocese and the Scalabrinianos Missioners Congregation, where they were also received by an IOM official. They received food, beds to rest, and a toiletry kit for the journey. Two hours later buses arrived to the temporary shelter to transport the Venezuelans to the immigration check post. The Rumichaca bridge was only 10 minutes away from Ipiales. 

Omir Helena and her husband received the Migratory Andean Card, a document issued to control people incoming and outcoming from the territory of country members of the Andean Community of Nations (CAN) i.e., Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia.  She thanked the aid received on the route between Cali and Ipiales, saying that:

“It was an unbelievable beautiful and well-organized process, we got very well impressed. Now we have to go on and pray for changes in Venezuela, because we want to come back”. 

“On the road, we joined people coming from Carabobo, Aragua, Maracay and Bolivar City, all having the same purpose: overcome a problem and keep going. Although we come from different states, many things unite us, such as a shared feeling of being Venezuelans and a family, no matter we don’t know each other. Another sentiment unites us: to get back to our Venezuela, God willing, very soon”, said Wilmore Raúl before boarding a vehicle to enter Ecuador with his family. 

Every day during the week, other buses got to Ipiales from Cali driving other groups.