Relief, Resettlement, Development
It is already August and this first half of the year has been full of twists and turns at OTGI. After a quiet but heartwarming winter in the bright mountain sun, celebrating traditions in our shelters like the day of the candles and of course Christmas with our staff and the caminantes, we dived headfirst into the January rush. Starting …
An Interview with Pedro By: Georgie Pease Every day, OTGI’s volunteers work with local drivers to run Mobile Aid trips, distributing simple yet substantial food to people migrating out of Venezuela on foot. The caminantes cross into the Colombian border city of Cucuta, then follow the highway towards Bogota or Medellín, and often further, into other countries where they hope …
Yesterday was a long moving day, and the last day of the shelter Esperanza Hoy. After a year of opening, it was time to move on and to fill other needs with a new project to be announced very soon. In a year, the shelter welcomed hundreds and hundreds of caminantes per months, stopping by for a meal, a place …
Marie-Hélène, the mom of the family who volunteered with us for a month in February 2023, wrote an article about their experience here. This amazing family from Québec (Canada) is traveling around the world for a year. It was their first time volunteering during their trip, and for us at OTGI, it was also the first time having a family …
Anna, volunteer from Belgium who has been with us for 2 months, has created this collection of impactful moments and memories from international and local OTGI volunteers. A beautiful serie of narratives, poems and photos, capturing the core of what it’s like to be a volunteer at OTGI through every day stories.
Talking with Douglas, the conversation can easily go on for hours. The first time we met, he told me about the large library he holds inside boxes from antique books that he collected over the years. It was even more fascinating to listen about his journey as a shy boy to a dedicated and confident social worker, from military service …
Brodie Hopkins, a photographer and reporter from Australia, spent a week with us last October and made a documentary about our organization and projects. In this article, he chose to tell the story of Maria and Reiner, Venezuelan restaurant owners in Pamplona with whom OTGI has been working for a long time. Since last April, we also started a language …
A former voluneer, Elodie, has written an article on the relationship between Colombia and Venezuela, and what causes Colombia to welcome Venezuelan migrants with “open arms”.
Our long-term volunteer, Simone, has written a piece on her experience of volunteering with OTGI. Simone has been volunteering with us for 2 months and has been an invaluable component of our team!
In June of 2022 OTGI started participating in a local project with children in collaboration with the Dharma Foundation. It is located in Christo Rey, one of the poorest neighborhoods in Pamplona, in which a lot of Venezuelan immigrants live. The Dharma Foundation was set up by Liliana, a Colombian woman with a big heart who was previously the owner …