I am Jeannette Makenga, I belong to the congregation Missionaries of Christ Jesus. I am the founder and current director of the Center for the Comprehensive Promotion of Children (CEPIN). I was born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Africa, and I have lived in the Barrio Etnia Guajira in Maracaibo, Venezuela for 25 years.

Since my childhood, I have felt inclined to serve others. I belonged to the group of the Legion of Mary, where we had to carry out apostolate activities to serve the most vulnerable people. From that moment, my missionary vocation was born.

I was sent to Venezuela and as soon as I arrived they assigned me to the Wayuu community in the barrio Etnia Guajira of Maracaibo. I came here due to the high levels of malnutrition in children, according to a census conducted by the Archdiocese of Maracaibo in 1993.

I was motivated to work with children, pregnant and lactating women because the first day I arrived in this neighborhood I entered a property to take some pumpkin leaves that were there. I remember it was 3 o’clock in the afternoon.

When I entered I saw that a lady was there, and when she saw me she got nervous. I asked her why she felt that way and she told me that she had dreamed of me the night before. She told me that in her dream I had told her that I came to work with the people from the barrio and that I came from far away. I must admit that the Wayuu people believe in dreams.

Also in that same dream, I told her that her eldest daughter was sick and that we had to take her to the hospital because if she didn’t go there, she would die. Just before I arrived she was sweeping the dream away from coming true, and when she turned around, she saw me and got scared.

So I asked her what could we do there because her dream was real; I had been sent to help this barrio. She looked at me and said, “You really were sent by God. We have a problem, there are many children who cannot drink breast milk and starve to death. What can we do? “

At that moment I thought: “Malnourished children are doomed human beings, they are drifting. If I take care of children, we will have productive and promising adults in the future. ” It was there that I began recruiting people from the community to support the nutritional recovery of the children.

Mrs. Amalia was my mentor, she was the one who introduced me to the families of our community. Three more women also joined us and so we began to cook mango and corn chicha on a firewood stove that was distributed to 25 children whom we chose after the diagnosis census was carried out.

After three months we went to the National Institute for Nutrition to ask for food. They gave us Lactovisoy. We gave it to the children’s parents for them to make it home, but as time passed we saw that the children did not recover. I felt outraged, and we decided to make it ourselves and give it to the children in a place that we had set up. After a while, we saw a change in the children. We conclude that in the houses the adults ate the food and the children only observed.

When the members of the community saw the children recovered, they began to bring more children and that is how we got to have 350 children in our Center, where they receive after-school tutoring and education related to peace culture, children’s rights, etc.

My joy has been great because I have seen many children who have studied and have attended college. They have a sense of belonging to the Center, as they always return to help, to reconnect with their roots.

I have also felt sad because I have seen many children die from lack of medical care, neglect, or because they’re taken first to a shaman before a doctor. Despite the frustration this causes me, I have not lost my motivation to continue working for the lives of children.

I believe in people, and I walk by their side teaching them about respect for human beings, and their dignity. I have seen that women have become empowered, they have put on other glasses to see the reality that surrounds them. When I look back I see that the path that was so full of cultural barriers and skepticism today is open to change. Women who were victims of abuse today defend their daughters, history is no longer recycled, it transforms itself.

I continue to believe in Venezuelans as people capable of succeeding. That is why I am working with children, women, and young people to be able to generate a change, even in our world, so that this place where I have had to live becomes a better place.

What we are going through will help us rebuild our homeland. I feel that people really want to move forward and I believe that the work we have done so far is solid, we just need to motivate people to get them to give themselves fully.

For a year we have been working hand in hand with Unicef. The program is large and is made up of five axes: education, health, nutrition, WASH and protection. With a team of 42 promoters, we have extended our attention to 25 communities. I am seeing the fruits of our effort. Communities are committed to their development and I have felt and lived the generosity that many people have had towards this project.

I also work hand in hand with the Isabel Martin Foundation, which helps us with a food security project where families plant, eat, and sell food surplus. The development is palpable when you see that the project’s beneficiaries achieve economic independence thanks to their own efforts.

Everything has been a blessing, the Venezuelan land has been a blessing and I have no words to thank my anonymous heroes because thanks to them I continue to move forward in this place, making it better and better.

I dream of a Venezuela full of smiles where everyone hugs each other like diblings without thinking that they are going to steal from you or kill you for a pair of shoes and where children are protected, heard, loved and their rights are respected. From my corner I see a prosperous Venezuela, driven by those children who have been in my Center, I dream of a better Venezuela.

Translated by: Pascual Díaz