With HI’s support, Wiliany’s autonomy is improving

Wiliany is seven years old and lives in Venezuela. She was born with prenatal hypoxia - in other words, she had lacked oxygen during pregnancy. This affected her motor functions, especially the use of her legs. As a result, Wiliany has never been able to move around unaided. HI and its local partners are helping her to increase her autonomy.

Wiliany is becoming more autonomous

Wiliany is a lively little girl, smiley and curious, but her motor impairment has prevented her from moving around on her own and made her very dependent on others, especially her mother.

Wiliany lives in the town of San Francisco, south of Maracaibo. It was here that she crossed paths with the association Nuevo Amanecer, HI's local partner in Venezuela. After being identified by the association, she was given rehabilitation sessions at home to help her become more autonomous. This has helped her to improve her motor functions, her upper body posture and her balance.

"Thanks to this support, Wiliany is making progress and becoming more independent every day," explains Wiliany Morales, her mother. "We’ve also been shown how to help and accompany her at home. We’ve learned how to do massages and we help her with her rehabilitation exercises"

HI has supplied her with a new walking frame adapted to her environment and size, as her old one had become too small for her. With this new walker, Wiliany can move around more independently, both at home and at school.

In Venezuela, HI helps the most vulnerable

Through its presence in the region, notably in Colombia and Cuba since 1998, Bolivia since 2011 and Peru since 2018, HI has developed in-depth knowledge of the Latin American context and its actors. In 2019, as part of its response to the consequences of migration crises, HI launched operations in Venezuela.

Since then, the organisation has been working to support the most marginalised communities, running projects to improve access to essential services, such as health and food assistance. HI is also working in collaboration with local partners, other organisations and the authorities to protect the most vulnerable populations, notably the indigenous communities in the state of Amazonas where it promotes resilience and cohesion in the face of armed violence. Lastly, HI is working in the state of Apure to ensure that young people are aware of their rights and to support their vocational inclusion.