The president of the NGO Regala Una Sonrisa warned this Monday that in Venezuela there are more and more Portuguese people living “with many needs, in situations of need and who need more help from their compatriots and the Portuguese Government”.
“The needs are many and for us it is frustrating to go to a house and see the reality, that our community in Venezuela is having a very bad time,” he said.
Francisco Soares was speaking to the Lusa agency in Caracas, during the inauguration of the first “Hogar de los Ángeles Lusitanos” (Home of Lusitanian Angels), an NGO program, which has the support of the local Portuguese community and Lisbon.
“The Portuguese community is not doing well, they are not taking holidays here (…) there are very great needs and for us it is complicated, because resources are finite, we are short on helping with all the needs”, he highlighted.
Francisco Soares urged the Portuguese in Venezuela and Portugal to help their compatriots. “They are not obliged to do it with us (…) but do something for the community that needs it so much”, he stressed.
The head of the NGO explained that, once a month, teams take to the streets of Caracas looking for homeless people, inviting volunteers who want to participate in this mission.
Regarding the new home, he said it was “a project that arose with many difficulties and vicissitudes”, but assured that now “there is an extra place to receive those in need”. “Previously, we saw people in vulnerable situations and we couldn’t care for them, we couldn’t take them to our home and we had to rent housing (…) and now we have 16 rooms and beds for 32 people,” he said.
According to Francisco Soares, the NGO provides primary medical care, there is a clothing bank and there are several activities, including the recreational program “Walking with Angels”, which includes scheduled walks. “Now we have a place to receive those who live on the street and those who have nowhere to stay when they come from another state to process documents or undergo treatment,” he said.
“Large, working” community
Speaking to Lusa, the Portuguese ambassador to Venezuela, João Pedro Fins do Lago, highlighted that the home was born “from a dream of the Portuguese associative movement, in this case of Francisco Soares and Regala Una Sonrisa and the program Ángeles Lusitanians.
“The dream of building a shelter for Portuguese and Portuguese descendants in need. A house that for a day, a night, a short period of time, provides shelter, affection and the attention that those who are homeless need,” he said.
According to the diplomat, the home “marks an important point in the history of the Portuguese community”. “The embassy, the consular network is extremely attentive and active in Venezuela, but the State’s arm only reaches a certain point. The rest of the path is covered by a community that is supportive, that helps each other and that organizes itself through the associative movement”, he stressed.
João Pedro Fins do Lago also said that the home “is proof that the associative movement is connected, attentive to people and identifies their needs”. “The Portuguese community is very large in Venezuela. It is a large, working community, with perfect integration and very successful. But there are fringes and on these fringes there are people who need attention,” he said, highlighting the “very meritorious work” that is done by the associative movement and the Portuguese State.
At home, receiving help for almost three months is Fernando Manuel Leite da Silva, an emigrant from Faro, with a degree in hospitality and tourism. “I found myself homeless. I already slept on the street and ate out of the trash,” he explained to Lusa, specifying that he was sent by the consulate to the NGO.
