The Flight of Venezuelan Immigrants

If you've been paying attention to the news, you know that Venezuela is having an economic and social crisis of epic proportions.  Why is this important for my Ecuadorian Blog?  Because every day I see these immigrants, who have left their families, their homes, and their lives back in Venezuela.  They have walked through Columbia and have arrived in Ecuador with only a bag of posessions.  They are traveling the PanAmerican Highway through my city of Ibarra, on their way to Peru, which has opened its doors to them.  I decided that I would be terribly amiss if I didn't include some information about them in my experience here in Ecuador.  However, I'm not sure I even understand all that is happening and changing on a daily basis for these desperate people, so I thought I'd give you a little summary straight from a variety of sources on the Internet:


Fri 10 Aug 2018, by Tom Phillips
More than Half a Million Venezuelans Fled to Ecuador this Year, UN says

Quito declared a state of emergency after 30,000 migrants escaping violence and a collapsing economy came the first week of August.

More than half a million Venezuelans have crossed into Ecuador this year as part of one of the largest mass migrations in Latin American history, the United Nations said on Friday.

About 547,000 citizens of the crisis-stricken South American country have entered Ecuador since January (2018) – mostly through its northern border with Colombia – to escape rampant crime and political violence, a collapsing economy and severe shortages of food and medicines.

In reaction to this, the Ecuador government required Venezuelan immigrants to have passports to enter this country, but that didn't last long.

25 November, 2018 
Ecuador seeks $550 Million to Help Venezuelan Migrants Fleeing Crisis

Ecuador needs some $550 million to provide aid to Venezuelans fleeing their country's economic crisis and hopes to raise the funds through donations from multilateral agencies and nearby countries, an Ecuadorean official has said.

Delegations from a dozen Latin American countries met in Quito on Thursday and Friday to co-ordinate plans to deal with the Venezuelan migration crisis, which is overwhelming social services agencies throughout South America.

"We have quantified Ecuador's medium- and long-term needs at around $550 million," Santiago Chavez, deputy minister of human mobility, told reporters. "This has to do with health, education, housing and employment needs."

Each day, more and more were coming.  And then this happened.


Mon 21 Jan 2019 by Joe Parkin Daniels
Ecuador targets Venezuelan migrants after woman's death. Crackdown announced amid outrage over killing as Venezuelan man is held

Ecuador has launched a crackdown on Venezuelan migrants after a pregnant Ecuadorian woman was killed on Saturday evening.  The police and Ecuador’s president, Lenín Moreno, have said that that Diana Carolina Ramírez’s killer was her boyfriend, a Venezuelan immigrant. His name was given as Yordy Rafael LG, who was said to be in custody.

Ramírez was 22 and four months pregnant when she was stabbed to death after being held hostage for an hour and led through the streets of Ibarra, a northern city.

Video of the killing was captured by witnesses and circulated on social media, triggering national outrage. It led Moreno to tighten immigration controls for Venezuelans and dispatch special forces to the streets.

“I have ordered the immediate setting up of units to control Venezuelan immigrants’ legal status in the streets, in the workplace, and at the border,” Moreno tweeted on Sunday afternoon. “We have opened our doors, but we will not sacrifice the security of anyone.”

Ecuador, along with other South American countries, has received hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans fleeing an economic crisis back home, where hyperinflation is rampant and food and medicine shortages are widespread.

According to UNHCR, the United Nations’ refugee agency, 3 million Venezuelans have now fled while Ecuadorian authorities say that 1.3 million Venezuelans entered the country last year, with most continuing south to Peru. 

(Ecuadorian President ) Moreno also announced that the government might create a special permit for Venezuelans to enter the country, though he offered no details. Last year his administration said it was implementing regulations that would require Venezuelans to show passports on entering the country, though it was blocked in the courts.

In the aftermath of the murder, spates of attacks against Venezuelan people broke out, particularly in Ibarra. Videos circulating on social media show mobs of Ecuadorians harassing Venezuelans, breaking into their homes and burning their possessions. Videos from airports and bus terminals, where Venezuelans often congregate, show similar harassment.

This happened in my tranquil city.  Ibarra.  I was happily in my home and knew nothing about this very public killing, but many people were in the streets to witness it.  The local police had the area cordoned off, but due to some restrictive policing laws, they felt like they couldn't take action.  The people of Ibarra were both furious with the police for not doing enough, and with the Venezuelan immigrants for taking over their city.  It's a tension that I feel has been building for awhile.  I see the immigrants standing on the corners begging, selling things on busses, entertaining for a dime at traffic lights and sleeping in the park.  The blaming of the Venezuelans didn't surprise me, but the violence against them did.  In fact, it surprised most everyone.

Immediately, many immigrants turned around and found their way back to the Columbia border and safety.  Others, asked for help to get home, or to get on with their journey... anything to get out of Ecuador.  To help them, the government of Venezuela paid for private airplanes to return willing immigrants to Venezuela while a non-profit organization paid for busses to transport the immigrants from the Columbia border, through Ecuador and into Peru.  Since that week, I've seen very few Venezuelan immigrants around town.  They're too scared to come back.

Here is another excerpt off the internet from last week:

The Venezuelan crisis has begun to reveal itself in much deeper layers.

Considered the largest exodus of the last 50 years, organizations such as the United Nations have estimated that around 2.3 million Venezuelans have left the country in recent years, often heading to neighboring countries.

Driven by the economic and social decline of their homeland, thousands of Venezuelans have collected their few belongings and embarked on a long trip to seek a better future, becoming one of the largest migrant groups in the world.

...

(A non-profit spokesperson) said that the government couldn’t hold all Venezuelans responsible by the action of a single offender (in Ibarra).

Similarly, he asked (Ecuadorian President) Moreno to punish any Venezuelan who violates the law, but also to provide protection to Venezuelans so that they are not victims of "xenophobia."

(Xenophobia= a dislike or prejudice against people from other countries.)

However, the murder of this young woman highlights the real crisis that Latin America is experiencing, nowadays, considered the region with the highest rates of gender violence with an average of nine women murdered per day.

According to the UN, Latin America is the "most lethal" place for women outside a war zone, with figures that reached 2,500 victims during 2017.

In Ecuador, "60.6 percent of women have experienced some type of violence," according to figures from the National Institute of Statistics and Census, and Venezuela is one of the 15 countries with more femicides in the world, showing that the real crisis in Latin America is a completely different epidemic.

This is also true.  In the last few days, another woman was sexually assaulted by her male "friends" in Quito and it turned into a high-profile plea to stop the madness.  Women and families all over Ecuador took to the streets to protest and delivered a backlash to the xenophobic response of blaming the Venezuelans.  The real problem isn't the immigrants, it's the machismo culture.

As all of this transpired in our community, it was decided at our school (by either parents, students or administrators) that the voice of Teodoro Gomez de la Torre must be heard.  They decided to take a day for a peaceful march in mourning to honor the woman killed in Ibarra, as well as the fight for peace, respect, and safety of all women.

Leading the Peace March was this banner:
"Ibarra and Teodoro are Good People
For the Security
Through Solidarity
Against Machismo
Against Violence"

Each class carried their own banner and all the students wore a black ribbon
to remember the death of these women.
"Senior E Class, For Peace"

"No More Violence Against Women, Ibarra City of Peace"

"If you abuse a woman, you stop being a man"

"Ibarra in Mourning, No to Xenophobia"

Students, teachers, and parents marched through the streets chanting:

Por tu hija, por mi hermana, lucharemos día!

Nos matan y nos violan y nadie hace nada!

Que viva la lucha de las mujeres!

For your daughter, for my sister, we will fight this day! 

We are killed and violated and no one does anything! 

Live the fight of women!

Aplaudan, aplaudan no dejen de aplaudir,

machismo y xenofobia, no tienen que existir.

Clap, Clap, Applaud, 

Machismo and xenophobia, do not have to exist.

"I firmly believe that respecting diversity is a fundamental pillar in the eradication of racism, xenophobia and intolerance. - Rigoberta Menchú - Sophomore Class A"

My International Baccalaureate Class carried their banner proudly:
"Ibarra and the Teodoro Family United for Peace"

"Violence is the Ultimate Refuge for Incompetence"

"Against Machismo"

This is our principal who led the march and spoke passionately to the media about
the need for equality and respect for everyone, no matter their race, their country of origin, or their gender.  I really love that the Ecuadorian school system teaches and models how students should be involved and vocal citizens to create a better community for all.  

"We want to live free, without fear, without blows that hurt or words that injure."
"Let's fight for life, not one less"

I was really proud of the staff and students of my school.  I hope they are internalizing these messages and will continue the work to make the world a better and safer place for everyone in the future.  




Unfortunately, the Venezuelans are not safe, and their situation continues to get worse.  Because of this recent homicide, the Ecuadorian government is demanding that Venezuelan Immigrants present their criminal records in order to enter Ecuador, which is causing a whole new set of problems for these poor and desperate people.  

Furthermore, as things currently stand, Nicolás Maduro, the president of Venezuela, has refused to concede that his re-election was a sham.  Many other countries however, have already recognized Juan Guaidó as a new interim president of Venezuela, and are asking Maduro to step down.  But Maduro won't step down, leaving Guaidó powerless to do much. International organizations are trying to help get aid to the people in Venezuela.  But now Maduro is closing the borders and is not allowing food, water and medicine to enter his country.  Venezuela is in complete turmoil, the borders have turned violent, and nobody knows what will happen next.  In the meantime, the street corners around Ibarra still seem empty. 

My friend and fellow Peace Corps Volunteer Alex Ogle (TX) interviewed some immigrants he met in the streets and painted their images and representations of their experiences.  Last night, he held an exhibition of his paintings at a local cafe in Ibarra and opening night was packed with many locals.  I'm really proud of his efforts to create more awareness on the plight and flight of these people. 

Over the months of living here, I've befriended an owner of a small restaurant.  His name is Francisco, and he's from Venezuela.  When all of this happened, he closed his restaurant doors, and I haven't seen him since.  I hope Francisco is safe.  I hope he has a place to sleep.  I hope he isn't hungry... wherever he is.

Our English Writing Club

As a teacher, I receive a lot of pressure from Peace Corps to organize student clubs, of whatever topic, as long as it includes English.  Unfortunately, in my school, extra clubs aren't the norm, so it's a little hard to get students motivated to return to school after going home for lunch.  It's also hard to work around the always-changing schedule.  That said, Kendall, my fellow Peace Corps Volunteer at Teodoro, and I eeked out 6 weeks between January and February to teach an English Club.  We needed to have our club on Friday afternoons so we offered it to the most motivated students on campus- the International Baccalaureate Students.  When asked, they overwhelmingly stated that they wanted to practice more writing.  So, we designed a club where each week we used different vocabulary and grammar forms to practice a new mode of writing.  We wrote articles and interviews.  We watched short movies, had a popcorn party and learned how to write reviews.  We introduced the students to Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches and wrote down our  other favorite recipes. We also wrote persuasive advertisements to sell gadgets, and letters asking for advice.  We tried to make it fun and played a lot of games, too.  It was a fun group, and in the end, 21 students stuck with it and received a certificate of participation.  We were all very proud of their efforts!

Back Row: Dilan, Sebastian, Christian, José David, Josué, Anthony, Camila, Maria, Samantha, Fernanda, Karen, Tiara, Camila, Saul, Kerlly

Front Row: Anthony, Shirley, Massiel, Alisson, Angeles, Alejandra, Gabriela and Me

(Kendall took the picture!)

Other Teodoro Happenings

Everyday at my school, Teodoro Gomez de la Torre, is different.  It's true, Monday mornings usually start with a "Civic Moment".  Students line up by class, sing the National Anthem, the school song, listen to announcements and honor outstanding students or sportsmanship in a quick award ceremony.

In the morning, school starts at 7am.  By the 9:00 recess, kids are scrambling (literally) for a snack.  Generally, students can't leave campus, so the vendors line up outside the gates to sell their snacks to the students through the bars.  The kids clang on the bars and yell out what they want: salchipapas (french fries with a hot dog), colas or chips.  When the vendors' trays get empty, they have to run back across the street to their restaurant to get another load.  It's quite a scene at recess.

However, interrupted schedules and special events are more of the the norm.  Invariably each week, some classes are cancelled for the last few periods of a day, or for several days, to allow the students to participate.  January, I learned, is the month of sports.  And when you have a whole school sporting competition, you need an opening ceremony.  I started getting wind of this event in the days before when I saw students passing out colored t-shirts to each other.  Turns out, each class in each grade level fields a girls team and a boys team for soccer, basketball and volleyball.  The youngest students only play soccer.  The high school students play all three sports.  Each class designs their own sporting t-shirt and shorts and wears them proudly on the days they have games.  

For this opening ceremony, all 4,800 students paraded onto the field with banners announcing their class.  Their colored shirts added to the festive experience.  It was all very exciting!  

Each class also chose a mascot and two Madrinas (always a girl and sometimes a girl and a boy).  These Madrinas added a beauty pageant feel to the whole event, but to be chosen as
the Madrina of your class is quite an honor.

Then, to hype up the crowd even more, a huge gorilla showed up to dance with students who were chosen as mascots of each team.  The whole stadium was dancing and cheering.

And then the games began!

For at least 8 days throughout the month of January, classes were cancelled to honor all the sporting games.  When you have two teams per class, six classes at each grade level, and they all have to play against each other, a lot of time is needed for the games.

This is my brother Pablo and his friends getting ready for their first 
3rd grade soccer game against other 3rd graders. 

This group of 5th graders found the best view by climbing the goal.

 Even the pre-schoolers fielded a team and got some lessons on how to play.

The smallest students played on smaller fields in the courtyard of our school.  
This is normally our playground for recess.

The older students played their games in the stadium.  

Since the stadium is so large, 4 soccer games could be played at the same time. 

At the same time, basketball tournaments were also occurring on six courts outside...

...and inside the Colosseum.

The high school final matches drew big crowds and it was very exciting to see the older students play.

These are my International Baccalaureate Girls who were very proud that 
the "Nerds" made it to the Girls Final.


I was a bit shocked that so many days were taken off the school calendar for these sporting events, but in the end I realized that there were a lot of lessons on teamwork and good sportsmanship that came from these days.  Another example of the Ecuadorian school system raising whole kids. 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

About a week after the sporting events finished, it was time for the Baile de los Inocentes, 

or Dance of the Innocent Children.  For this event,  "children" of all ages dress up in costumes and compete in dance competitions.  There is a biblical reason for this event, but it has definitely morphed into a giant costume party experience.  I saw advertisements for Baile de los Inocentes events all over town, and I know several families who signed their kids up for them trying to earn the prizes.  So the schools have events too.  At Teodoro, students of each grade level competed for about 90 minutes against each other and earned prizes for the best costume and most energetic dancing.  

Winners were chosen by judges and an "applauso-meter". 

The Baile de los Innocentes lasted one whole day for the elementary and middle school kids, but the juniors and seniors in high school competed against each other the next day.  Their competition was a little different.  Each class selected two dancers to represent their class, and so there were only about 15 partner teams dressed in costume and participating in the dance... which lasted for hours.  They had an old-fashioned dance-off, where after several hours, teams, too exhausted to continue, would quit.  The DJ played music from many different countries and many different eras (African, Swing Jazz, Waltz, etc.)  I was amazed that these students generally knew the steps to all these different types of dances and they had costume accessories to match the dances, too (top hats, canes, scarves, etc.)  It was really fun to watch and cheer the couples on.  Finally, with the last three couples standing, they used the "Applauso-meter" to judge the winners.  Two teenage boys from a senior class, who dared to wear nothing but diapers, won the whole competition.  They were so crazy and were really good dancers too.  I wish I had pictures.  Unfortunately, this was the one day this year 

I had forgotten my camera at home. 

I'm not sure if it was planned or coincidence, but I thought it was really neat how an arts event followed a sports event.  It provided students an opportunity to honor their talents 

and represent their class in a different way.   

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Last fall, former students of Teodoro school formed a giant protest.  This protest was riotous enough to close school for a day because students were throwing tear gas and burning tires in the courtyard.  The purpose of the protest was to attract attention and it certainly did.  The police, a SWAT team and all the local news crews showed up to get involved.  Even our principal spoke passionately that the students had a right to create this disturbance for our school.  Why?  Because Teodoro Gomez de la Torre is supposedly one of the most historical and beloved high schools in Ecuador.  Unfortunately, as many parents and students feel, it has been neglected by the Ministry of Education for many years.  It is true, its infrastructure is crumbling and the class sizes are huge (more than 40 at all grade levels). Also, as I understand it, there has been a rotation of principals ever two years as the Ministry uses this position as a political stepping stone for up and coming administrators.  Obviously, without this consistency, nothing is getting done for the betterment of the school.  So, the protestors wanted to let the public know what was happening behind the gates of this historic school, 

and try to get the Ministry to do something about it.  

The protests must have worked.  So far this year, I've seen several changes at our school.  First, the current principal stayed in his position.  Second, there has been many work crews painting, 

changing light-bulbs, laying new sod on the playground and fixing up classrooms.  

One day, classes were cancelled to celebrate the re-opening (after several years) of 

the swimming pool and laboratories for biology and physics.  Sorry, no photos of the science labs - they look just like modern school laboratories in the US.  

The swim team is happy to use their own pool again.  

It's nice to see the pride students, staff and parents have for their facilities.