By Kent Page
Venezuela’s regional crisis is one of the largest in the world. Millions more people have been displaced in South America and around the world. Many young people have left their homes, extended families, and countries to seek a better life in countries such as Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.
The influx of refugees and migrants from Venezuela, coupled with persistent and demanding situations of poverty and inequality, the lingering effects of COVID-19, climate change, and other interconnected crises are impacting the learning trajectories of young refugees and host communities.
For young people with disabilities, for whom even getting to school or moving between school sites can be a real challenge, demanding situations can seem insurmountable. In Peru, a state-of-the-art, multi-year programme implemented through UNICEF with investment from the United Nations Global Fund’s Education in Emergencies Fund, Education Cannot Wait (ECW), is helping women and children with disabilities, like Anaís and Joel, find new opportunities and hope through inclusive and quality education.
Anaís, 15, has a smile and a contagious power that could melt a glacier. At the age of 2, she began to suffer from seizures as a result of a severe case of chickenpox. This marked the beginning of an immediate decline that would replace his life forever.
“It all started with seizures and then it was a non-stop process,” says his father, Carlos José. “Anaís now suffers from a physical motor disability and psychomotor delay and she cannot speak. However, the cause of the seizures and her decline remain unknown.
In her native Venezuela, where resources are limited and transport to specialized facilities is difficult, Anaís was never able to attend school. As it became ever more challenging to respond to the needs of their daughter in the crisis that Venezuela was facing, Carlos José and his wife decided to leave their country in 2018.
Imagine what an ordeal it must have been for a family with limited resources and a daughter with disabilities. Imagine the fear and uncertainty of traveling across the region to a new country with not much more than the clothes on your back and hope in your heart. Despite their dreams of a better world, Anaís and her family found new challenges when they arrived in Peru.
Anaís enjoys running with the therapists at her school. “We are grateful for the reception that the school has given her and we know that she is very satisfied,” says her father.
There are over 1.5 million Venezuelan refugees and migrants in Peru. The influx of newcomers has strained the education system across the country. Classes are overcrowded, resources are thin and teachers are overstretched. Both the national education system and private schools have struggled to ensure both host community and refugee children can exercise their human right to 12 years of quality education.
The family circle had almost given up on finding a school for Anaís. Fortunately, UNICEF, with the help of its implementing partner HIAS, was able to place Anaís at the CEBE Divina Misericordia School. Anaís, in spite of everything, was able to go to school.
With support from Education Cannot Wait and UNICEF, the school is playing a vital role in Anaís’s physical, mental and emotional development. At her school, she receives regular physical therapy, attends enrichment classes and is making new friends. In addition to these holistic education supports, HIAS was able to secure a wheelchair for Anaís. With her new wheels, the bright-eyed girl has a new lease on life.
While Anaís can still hear perfectly well, her disability has limited her speech. “She struggles with sentence construction and conjugation, but we are still able to communicate with her and understand her,” says her father proudly. “We are grateful for how well the school has welcomed her, and we know she is very happy there.”
In Peru, 14-year-old Joel, who has autism, stands up for his grandmother, mother and mentor, Celestina.
Originally from Peru, 14-year-old Joel is autistic and struggles in his network due to his disability.
With the firm and steadfast support of his grandma — and a learning recovery program at the Virgen del Carmen School —Joel is learning to read and write. The program is delivered through the ECW investment by UNICEF with the support of RET, an implementing partner.
Most importantly, he connects with his classmates and works hard to achieve his purpose of completing an autobiographical book.
“I’ve seen him replace for the better at home; He opens up and talks about everything that happens at school. I didn’t do that before,” says her grandmother Celestina.
Behind almost each and every wonderful boy is an even more wonderful grandmother. Celestina has been Joel’s only mother since she was a child and takes her paintings seriously as a tutor, mentor, and grandmother.
“The program taught Joel a lot about math and communication. Now he talks more,” she says. My grandson is satisfied, very satisfied with everything he has learned. “
Joel works with an instructor at the UNICEF-supported Virgen del Carmen school in Peru. “The program taught Joel a lot about math and communication. Now he talks more,” says his grandmother. My grandson is satisfied, very satisfied with everything he has learned. “
ECW has invested a total of $9. 3 million to date in Peru. The programs implemented through UNICEF, UNESCO, RET, World Vision, Save the Children, Alternativa, HIAS and other strategic partners in coordination with the Government of Peru have already reached 19,000 trained children. six hundred teachers and built 32 classrooms.
Around the world, ECW and its strategic partners, including UNICEF, are making really important investments so that no child is left behind, especially young people with disabilities.
The needs are immense. Globally, there are 240 million children with disabilities facing “persistent barriers to education stemming from discrimination, stigma and the routine failure of decision makers to incorporate disability in school services,” according to UNICEF.
Join UNICEF, Education Can’t Wait, and grandmothers around the world in helping young people with disabilities like Joel and Anaís succeed in their full futures by calling on world leaders to fund ECW’s four-year strategic plan, or by making your individual donation today. With $1. 5 billion in funding, ECW and its strategic partners like UNICEF will benefit 20 million young people (10% of whom are young people with disabilities) by providing them with the safety, strength, and opportunities that inclusive and quality education brings. Please make a donation.