The president of the NGO "Regala Una Sonrisa" warned this Monday that there are more and more Portuguese living in Venezuela "with many needs, in situations of need and who need more help from their compatriots and the Portuguese government".
"The needs are many and it's frustrating for us to go to a house and see the reality, that our community in Venezuela is having a very bad time," he said.
Francisco Soares was speaking to Lusa news agency in Caracas during the inauguration of the first "Hogar de los Ángeles Lusitanos" (Lusitanian Angels' Home), a program run by the NGO, which has the support of the local Portuguese community and Lisbon.
"The Portuguese community isn't doing well, they're not vacationing here (...) there are very great needs and it's complicated for us, because resources are finite, we're too short to help in the face of all the need," he stressed.
Francisco Soares urged the Portuguese in Venezuela and Portugal to help their compatriots. "You're not obliged to do it with us (...) but do something for the community that needs it so much," he said.
On the other hand, he explained that once a month they go out onto the streets of Caracas looking for homeless people, inviting volunteers to take part in this mission.
"Now we have a place to welcome those who live on the street"
Regarding the new home, it was "a project that came about with many difficulties and vicissitudes (...) but the house is now built, there is an extra place to receive those in need".
Previously, we saw people in vulnerable situations and we couldn't help them, we couldn't take them into our home and we had to rent a place (...) and now we have 16 rooms and beds for 32 people.
According to Francisco Soares, the NGO provides primary medical care, a clothing bank and various activities, including the recreational program "Walking with the Angels", which includes scheduled outings.
"Now we have a place to receive those who live on the street and those who have nowhere to stay when they come from another state to process documents or get treatment," he said.
Speaking to Lusa, the Portuguese ambassador to Venezuela, João Pedro Fins do Lago, stressed that the home was born "from a dream of the Portuguese associative movement, in this case Francisco Soares and "Regala Una Sonrisa" and the Ángeles Lusitanos program".
"The dream of building a shelter for Portuguese and Lusodescendants in need. A house that for a day, a night, a short space of time, provides shelter, care and the attention that those who are homeless need," he said.
According to the diplomat, the home "marks an important point in the history of the Portuguese community".
"The embassy, the consular network is extremely attentive and active in Venezuela, but the arm of the state only goes so far. The rest of the way is done by a community that is supportive, that helps each other and that organizes itself through the associative movement," he stressed.
According to the diplomat, the home "is proof that the associative movement is connected, attentive to people and identifies their needs".
"The Portuguese community is very large in Venezuela. It's a large, hard-working, perfectly integrated and very successful community. But it has bangs and on those bangs there are people who need attention," he said, underlining the "very meritorious work" being done by the associative movement and the Portuguese state.
Fernando Manuel Leite da Silva, an emigrant from Faro with a degree in hotel management and tourism, has been receiving help at the home for almost three months.
"I arrived in a street situation. I was already sleeping on the street and eating garbage," he explained to Lusa, adding that he was sent by the consulate to the NGO.
"My mother died and I was left alone. I started drinking, first every other day, then two bottles of rum every day. I reached extreme poverty. I no longer bathed and I ate from the garbage," he explained.
