AP video by: Juan Arraez
Venezuelans affected by the devastating earthquakes last month received some aid on Wednesday but increasingly face challenges accessing clean water as well as sanitation and hygiene services.
Families in the hardest-hit state, La Guaira, have taken to the beach to shower and relieve themselves, with excrement now dotting parts of the once-crowded Caribbean beaches.
Others are using the little water that did not spill from their home storage tanks to wash the dishes and clean themselves.
Many are living in temporary shelters or outdoors after 190 buildings collapsed and 856 others were damaged.
Meanwhile, in Maiquetía, known for being home to the country’s main airport, people lined up Wednesday to receive a box bearing the United States flag containing food, water and a hygiene kit that included a soap, toothbrush and body cleansing towelettes.
“I never imagined I would be receiving aid from the U.S.,” said Yoniel Reyes at a tent with his box. “We Venezuelans are thankful for this aid.”
Venezuelan officials say the back-to-back earthquakes on June 24 killed at least 3,685 people.
Beyond that is an untold toll: those whose bodies have yet to be found.
“We still haven’t been able to come to terms with it, nor have we been able to mourn our dead,” lamented Reyes.
There are no official statistics on how many people are buried under the rubble, but more than 30,000 reports of missing people have been sent to a website set up by the Venezuelan opposition.
Glenis Parra, a earthquake survivor, recalled the harrowing moment she managed to escape with her year and two month-old daughter the day the earthquakes struck.
“It hasn’t been easy. But thank God we are alive despite so many people that perished under the debris. So we are here, fighting, until our situation can be solved,” she said.
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