For these children, the earthquakes in Venezuela changed everything

La Guaira, Venezuela –

Ten-year-old Maria continues to relive the moment she lost her mother and her life changed forever.

After powerful twin earthquakes devastated parts of Venezuela and destroyed their home in the coastal town of Carrabaleda last month, Maria and her brother Damian, 13, were taken in by their aunt, Mercedes Ossol.

“My mother was there,” Maria continues to tell her new caretaker.

Damien was less vocal – he dealt with everything that happened to his family in a different way.

“My nephew doesn’t want to talk about it. All he does is play, play,” Osol says. Damian spends most of his day on an improvised soccer field with other children who, like him, have lost their homes and are living in one of the many temporary shelters set up to house those displaced by the crisis.

As adults like Osol search for ways to rebuild their lives, children learn to live with fear, grief, and uncertainty — and how to make sense of tragedy.

While Damien prefers to spend his afternoons playing soccer, Maria seeks comfort in sweets, their aunt says. Innocent and childish ways of dealing with tragedy that most adults find difficult to deal with.

Experts say there is no single way to deal with a traumatic experience. That’s why many shelters have so-called child-friendly spaces, where psychologists and social workers support children and adolescents through recreational and group activities, guided play, and counselling.

The goal is not for them to immediately talk about what happened, but to provide a safe environment for them to start processing it, Manuel Rodriguez Pomarol, UNICEF representative in Venezuela, told CNN.

“Through play and group dynamics, children can begin to express themselves, begin to release the stress and trauma of this disaster, and also begin to regain that sense of security that they have lost,” he says.

World Vision is one of the charities creating these spaces. The group has eight to 10 mobile spaces throughout Caracas and La Guaira — the two hardest-hit areas — where children can play board and card games, do arts and crafts and play sports, according to the group’s emergency response director in Venezuela, Andrea Lasso.

“They need some space where they can feel safe again, where they can be protected, where they can play and interact with other children,” Lasso told CNN. “I think this is critical to their recovery and to rebuilding their lives.” This support extends to the adults responsible for them – to help them cope with their grief, but also to be a pillar of strength for the children.

Osol herself grieves for her sister – the mother of Maria and Damien. She is adjusting to life as she takes care of her niece and nephew, along with her two daughters.

The psychiatrist at the shelter advised Osol not to force Damian to talk about his mother’s death if he didn’t want to, and to allow football to be his outlet.

“They asked me to let him vent,” she recalls, “because this is a way to vent.”

The disaster turned the daily lives of thousands of children upside down. Some left their homes, others lost family members, friends, schools, and life as they knew it.

In temporary shelters, the challenge is not limited to ensuring that they have a place to sleep or food. It also includes helping them reclaim spaces of safety, play and learning while their families search for a long-term solution.

Controlling access to shelters remains a problem, Lasso says. Aid groups need to ensure that shelters are safe places where children are protected from those who would harm them.

“We’ve seen a lot of people who shouldn’t be there, and they’re really not affected by (the crisis), but they’re just trying to take advantage of the situation and take advantage of the kids, which is very evil and very sad, really,” she told CNN.

UNICEF estimates that about 650,000 people may need assistance after the earthquake, including about 234,000 children. According to Rodríguez Pomarol, this includes minors who lost their homes or relatives, and those who, although they did not suffer direct damage to their homes, were affected by the interruption of basic services such as drinking water, medical care or vaccination.

“The earthquake took a lot from these boys and girls, and our role is to ensure that it does not take away their future,” says Rodriguez Pomarol.

Part of that future depends on their ability to return to school. The UNICEF representative explained that some temporary camps are operating in educational centers, and that efforts are being made to vacate those places before the start of the next academic year.

Last week, acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez said that the country’s Simón Bolívar Orchestra is teaching children to play musical instruments, toys are being distributed, and the Venezuelan Football Federation has created soccer fields for children to play on.

She said the camps are divided into family units.

However, restoring their routine does not mean that their concerns simply disappear.

Rodriguez Pomarol says many children still face anxiety. “They play until late at night for fear that something might happen while they are sleeping,” says Rodriguez Pomarol.

The disaster has created a particularly complex situation for children who have been separated from their parents and whose fate remains unclear.

Family law specialist Giselia Vergara explains that in the absence of parents, the priority of the Venezuelan protection system is to find other relatives who can take care of the children.

Before considering any further action, Vergara says, authorities should investigate whether there are relatives, such as grandparents, uncles or older siblings, who could temporarily take care of the children while authorities figure out what happened to the parents.

“If it is reliably proven that both parents have died and there is no birth family who can care for these children, the state can declare them adoptable, which means the children can then become part of the foster family program,” explains Vergara.

The lawyer warns that even in emergency situations, these processes cannot skip steps. Families who want to sponsor a child must undergo assessments to determine suitability and ensure they can provide a safe environment.

“Institutionalization or adoption is the last resort available in Venezuela,” she says.

For Osol, the shelter has been a source of help in the midst of loss that she is still trying to process. There, her niece and nephew received food, play space and psychological support.

“They entertain them and take them to psychiatrists,” she says of her days at the shelter. “My daughter loves to draw. Damian is obsessed with football.”

But after losing her sister and taking on the responsibility of four children, her main need remains to regain a home for them all.

“The house, and everything else comes after that,” she says.

Until then, Damian, Maria, and thousands of kids like them will cling to what they can – candy, sports – for any semblance of comfort during the greatest tragedy of their young lives.

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