Relief, Resettlement, Development
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 …
Two of our volunteers, Tabatha and Jenny, have created a fundraiser to raise money to buy clothes and shoes for caminantes (refugees). This can often be life-saving if they don’t have sufficient warm clothing for the freezing temperatures.
Currently on a career break from her job as a journalist at BBC News in London, Catherine is volunteering with us for 2 months. Here is a humbling and real account of just one couples story.