Red Cross Brings Comfort to Families Living in Shelters

San Martin de Porras is a community in La Guaria, Vargas, that lies a few miles from Venezuela's international airport. Throughout the town, smoke from piles of burning trash pollute the air as people carry jugs of water and other supplies to their homes. Visible just beyond the town is a range of hills littered with remnants of mud streams and destroyed homes. Yamille Delnado lived in Montesan, a town that once lay among those hills. She now lives with her three children, mother, sister, nephew, and an elderly woman in a classroom at the San Martin de Porras Elementary School shelter.

On December 15, 1999, after several days of heavy rains, the river burst its banks sending layers of mud toppling everything in it's path. On that day, Yamille was home with her three children. As the mud threatened the family's home, Yamille gathered her children and evacuated to her sister's house on an adjacent hill. Within hours, mudslides also began threatening this neighborhood. As the family began to evacuate the house, collecting children and what items they could carry in their rush to the bottom of the hill, Wilson, Yamille's five-year-old son, was lost in the commotion. It was still raining and mudslides ran on both sides of the neighborhood, making the road at the foot of the hill dangerous to cross. Local fireman strung rope across the road and the family passed through the mud safely to the town of San Martin de Porras. Hours later, Wilson was safely reunited with his family after being rescued by one of Yamille's brothers.

Yamille Delnado and her children are one of 106 families temporarily living at the shelter in the elementary school. On January 2 the Red Cross brought blankets, mats, and hygiene kits to the survivors. Elderly and expectant mothers were given beds. The neighborhood church provides food to the survivors. Distributions to flood survivors are a collaborative effort among the several Red Cross societies working in Venezuela. The Federation coordinates operations, Venezuelan Red Cross volunteers distributed Spanish Red Cross supplies, and American and German Red Cross procured vehicles were used to transport volunteers and supplies.

Anxious, Yamille does not know where her next home will be. Christmas vacation will soon end and the children of San Martin de Porras will be returning to school. "We, my family and I, would like [to] stay together. We don't have family outside of La Guaira. My father works at the airport and his income is all we have," said Yamille, who is expecting her fourth child in February.

The Red Cross will continue to provide supplies to families displaced throughout La Guaira, as the most affected area of Venezuela slowly recovers from its worst disaster in years.

All American Red Cross disaster assistance is free, made possible by voluntary donations of time and money from the American people. To help the Venezuelan victims, you may make a secure online credit card donation or call 1-800-HELP NOW (1-800-435-7669) or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish). Or you may send your donation to your local Red Cross or to the American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, D.C. 20013.

The American Red Cross is dedicated to helping make families and communities safer at home and around the world. The Red Cross is a volunteer-led humanitarian organization that annually provides almost half the nation's blood supply, trains nearly 12 million people in vital life-saving skills, mobilizes relief to victims in more than 60,000 disasters nationwide, provides direct health services to 2.5 million people, assists international disaster and conflict victims in more than 20 countries, and transmits more than 1.4 million emergency messages to members of the Armed Forces and their families. If you would like information on Red Cross services and programs please contact your local Red Cross.