Fifteen-year-old Maria* was a student when the political and economic crisis hit Venezuela. Life was very challenging for Maria’s family and they struggled to buy food and medicine. Maria’s mother, Alejandra*, was away a lot working in Colombia trying to make money to support her family.
During this time, Maria started seeing a 28-year-old man. When she no longer wanted to be in the relationship, he became angry and sexually assaulted her on multiple occasions. Maria became pregnant and contracted a sexually transmitted disease (STD). When Alejandra found out about the relationship and the pregnancy, she was extremely distraught for her daughter.
The doctors in Venezuela told Maria she needed a c-section because she had a small cervix. However, they could only perform the operation if Maria’s family provided everything needed for the operation. Due to the crisis, the health system in Venezuela has almost collapsed and there are severe shortages in medication, health workers and equipment.
When they couldn’t raise the money needed for the c-section in Venezuela, Maria and Alejandra travelled to Colombia and have accessed counselling, prenatal care and postnatal care at Save the Children’s clinic in Maicao. Save the Children also referred her to the hospital and organized for the c-section and treatment of her STD.
When Maria first arrived at the clinic, she was very withdrawn, cried when anyone asked about the baby’s father and didn’t want to be touched by anyone, including medical staff. After 13 counselling sessions, Maria is more confident and has short and long-term plans. She also sees her new baby, Alberto*, as a positive thing that has come out of a bad situation.
Save the Children’s clinic was established by the Emergency Health Unit in April 2019 to provide prenatal care, postnatal care, mental health services, family planning resources and treatment for sexually transmitted infections for Venezuelan migrants and returning Colombians. Since it opened, the clinic has provided services for more than 1,000 patients.
*Names changed to protect identities