Helping Fleeing Refugee Families in Colombia

A malnourished, Venezuelan refugee boy explained, “My name is Joel Alexander Melo Rojas and I'm 6-years-old. I'm with my mom, aunt, and all my cousins.  We don't want to be hungry anymore. I don't want to stay here, because we have been through hunger and I don't like that. I don't want to be hungry. I like to eat, because I want to grow up. On our way to Bogota, no one gave us a ride, because there’s a lot of people. One time, we didn’t have any food, nothing to eat.  My little sister told my mom, ‘Mommy, Mommy, I'm hungry,’ and I told her the same thing.  She answered, ‘We don't have any food,’ and that was it.  We didn't have food for the whole day.  It was really bad.  It was hurting here, my knees, my ankles and my little toes from walking so much with these shoes. I tell my mom, ‘Let's sit here,’ but she doesn't want to. The doctor checked my chest, here, my feet and my toes. He gave me medicine, pills for a headache, a remedy. I feel very happy. I didn't see a doctor for 3 years.  I asked God that when we're walking nothing bad would happen to us, that when we are on the road, He will be with us.”

Operation Blessing Partners are helping fleeing families like Joel’s with food, medical care, and more.