Economic Growth Colombia Project #42997

Enabling Opportunities for 50 Venezuelan Refugees

by The Trust for the Americas

Enabling Opportunities for 50 Venezuelan Refugees

Project Report | Feb 11, 2020
Juan leaves all behind and migrates to Brazil

By Veronica Philippe | Project Officer

Juan learning how to code at the POETA Center

Dear friends,

Thank you for supporting us throughout 2019. We are glad to share that in 2019 we were able to reach 50 Venezuelan migrants through our POETA Center across the region. In this opportunity, we want to share the story of Juan, a young and resilient participant that, despite facing several difficulties in Venezuela, is building a bright future for himself and his brother in Brazil.

Juan is a 27-year-old originally from Maturin, Venezuela, one of the most violent cities in the world, according to the CCSPJC (Consejo Ciudadano para la Seguridad Pública y la Justicia Penal). In Venezuela, Juan was doing a bachelor's degree in Accounting and Architecture in Caracas, where he lived with his mother and worked for his family’s accounting firm. As sociopolitical unrest in Venezuela and the deadly clashes between civilians and authorities rose, Juan had to witness how several of his friends were incarcerated and/or executed for political motives. Juan’s family decided to migrate to neighboring countries such as Brazil, Colombia, Chile, and Mexico. Leaving all behind, Juan migrated in May 2019 to Roraima, Brazil and stayed at a refugee shelter.

Looking for job opportunities, Juan moved to Brasilia and started to craft clay sculptures. “Art has always been a part of my life. That’s why I choose to study Architecture” he shares. In Brasilia, encouraged by a friend, he joined the POETA Center through OSJC. After taking computer science and digital skills training at the Center, Juan learned how to code and program Webpages. Throughout his studies at the POETA Center, he demonstrated resilience and perseverance as he had to make a long commute (50km) to the Center every day. Further, despite being away from his family and having left his life in Venezuela, thanks to the POETA Center’s support, Juan was able to raise his spirit and widen his horizons regarding his new life in Brazil.

Thanks to his coding skills and the Center’s guidance, Juan is setting up a Webpage to showcase and sell his sculptures and paintings. In the future, Juan expects to become fluent in Portuguese as he is taking lessons at the University of Brasilia along with other migrants and refugees. He wants to become financially independent and be able to bring his brother from the refugee camp in Roraima. He also wishes to re-start his studies in Architecture and hopefully, become a successful Architect.

The Hour of the Code

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Nov 20, 2019
Migrating for a better life in Colombia

By Veronica Philippe | Project Officer

Maria Jose at her beauty salon

Hello friends,

We are glad to share that in the past few months we have provided digital and life skills training to 30 Venezuelan refugees at our POETA Centers. The POETA (Partnership for Economic Opportunities in the Americas) Centers are safe and free spaces equipped with computers where participants can find personalized mentorship, guidance and employability, digital and life skills training and workshops.

The POETA Centers receives participants from vulnerable backgrounds: women, at-risk youth, people with disabilities and migrants. At the POETA center, migrants and/or refugees receive personalized guidance on where to find service providers and employability training empowered through technology. Furthermore, our highly experienced POETA facilitators help and guide participants on how to access economic and educational opportunities. These opportunities correspond to obtaining a job or an internship, starting or strengthening a business, initiating or continuing their studies.

Meet María Jose, she is a 29-year-old Venezuelan woman who migrated to the city of Monteria, Colombia. Like millions of displaced Venezuelans, Maria Jose migrated to Colombia with her mother, grandmother, two brothers and her two sons (1 and 4 years old) with the hope of building a better life.

In Venezuela, Maria Jose grew up learning all about beauty services such as hair and color styling, make-up and nail design. Once in Colombia, she started by offering her services as a stylist door by door until she stumbled upon Ana Joaquina, the Coordinator of UPB’s Center, who invited her to join POETA YouthSpark.

“Once I knew that by learning digital and social media skills I could increase the number of costumers and provide more food to my family, I immediately decided to join the Center[…]” Maria Jose shares.

Immediately standing out as a motivated participant, Maria Jose quickly finished all the courses on Digital Literacy and started taking Computer Science courses. She later started providing complementary courses on Hair and Make-up Styling to her peers as a volunteer at the Center.

Thanks to the help of UPB’s Social Business Incubator, Maria Jose was able to start a business, Peinarte Spa y Barberia beauty salon, alongside her POETA YouthSpark’s peers. She designed the salon’s business model and marketing strategy using Microsoft Office’s platforms such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Likewise, she programmed the salon’s webpage and created social media profiles for it.

Maria Jose shares that besides fulfilling her long-life dream of being an entrepreneur, she is proud to able to contribute to her receiving community. She now feels part of Colombia as an active member of the Monteria community.

In the future, Maria Jose envisions helping other Venezuelan refugees living in Colombia. Her motto is “If I can do it, you can do it as well”. She shares she would appreciate help from everyone by following her salon’s social media pages at @peinartespa.

Students at the POETA Center

Life skills training

Digital skills training

POETA Center

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