Relief carried by hand to Venezuela's tent camps

From July 13 to 20, an IHE team and local volunteers delivered food, medicine and infant formula in the tent camps of Caracas and La Guaira after the earthquake. Every item is on the published inventory.

Give to the Venezuela fund See where the money goes

IHE Humanitarian Response Team member documenting the earthquake-collapsed buildings in La Guaira, Venezuela, with heavy machinery working in the background. — Documenting the collapsed buildings in La Guaira, July 2026.

What the July mission did

July 13 to 20, 2026 · Caracas and La Guaira

Watching the children paint in the middle of all that was the most moving moment of the mission.

Juan Candelario, Director of Operations

From July 13 to 20, an IHE team worked alongside local volunteers in Caracas and La Guaira, reaching families displaced by the earthquake. In July, the greatest need was in the tent camps, among them Ojitos de Chávez, where families with young children and older adults were living.

The team delivered infant formula, oral rehydration salts, non-perishable food, hygiene kits, and medical supplies, packed by hand into suitcases and handed over directly in the camps.

In the camps, the team also held art workshops with the children: markers, canvases and paper, and afternoons of drawing between the tents. The finished paintings traveled to "El Arte de la Resiliencia", the benefit auction supporting the relief fund.

Local volunteers worked beside the team all week, organizing logistics and turning needs into lists.

The July mission on video: the team on the ground in Caracas, La Guaira, and the camps.

Every photo was taken by the team

From arrival and supplies to the deliveries, the art workshops with the children, and the ground in La Guaira. No stock images.

An IHE team member arrives at the camp pulling a suitcase loaded with supplies. — Arriving at the camp with a suitcase of supplies.

A member of the IHE team hands toothbrushes to children who reach out to receive them at the camp. — Toothbrushes for the children of the camp.

A volunteer hands fresh fruit to a mother beside her child's stroller; the camp's tents are visible across the street in Caracas. — Fresh fruit for a mother across from the camp, in Caracas.

Wide view of an outdoor art workshop: children seen from behind paint canvases around a suitcase of art supplies while families gather in a circle. — An open-air art workshop, families gathered around.

A smiling boy shows the camera his signed painting of the Venezuelan flag at the camp art workshop. — A signed flag from the art workshop.

A boy proudly holds up his pineapple painting during the IHE art workshop. — A pineapple painted in the workshop.

Seven finished canvases from the children's art workshop laid out together, showing flags, a pineapple and other drawings dated July 18, 2026. — Finished canvases, dated July 18, 2026.

Multi-story building pancaked by the earthquake in La Guaira, with a front loader clearing debris at its base. — A building brought down by the earthquake in La Guaira.

Two IHE team members embrace at the humanitarian response camp in La Guaira, Venezuela. — Two team members at the camp in La Guaira.

What one full mission costs

That is the mission budget, built from what things actually cost in July. If the goal is met, it rises to $13,500 to add physicians and health professionals traveling from the United States.

Give to the Venezuela fund

Donations to the Venezuela fund are restricted. They pay for this relief work and nothing else.

Where the money goes

Travel & logistics: $3,300
Medicines & medical supplies: $2,500
Hydration & infant nutrition: $1,200
Non-perishable food: $1,500
Health days, children's activities & contingency: $2,400

Approximate figures. The full budget is available to anyone who asks.

El Arte de la Resiliencia

The children of the camps painted 30 works in the July workshops. The paintings traveled to the United States in the team's suitcases.

Bids start at $100 per work. Proceeds go to the restricted Venezuela fund, which pays for aid in the camps.

See the 30 works

Child's painting on white canvas of a yellow pineapple with teal leaves, drawn in marker with crisscross lines and a small arched door at its base. Signed Mauricio in black along the bottom edge. — The pineapple

Painting on canvas of Jesus in a beige robe, seen from behind with a halo, painting a rainbow across a blue sky over green hills. The handwritten message reads 'Jesus te ama mas alla de tus errores y debilidades. Amen' beside a small red heart. — Jesus loves you

Colored pencil drawing of the Venezuelan flag on a brown pole, surrounded by pink hearts, two sparkling multicolored stars, a blue butterfly, and flowers. The penciled phrase at the top reads 'Vamos a pasar esto con fe y paz'. — "We will get through this with faith and peace"

Marker drawing of a rainbow in red, pink, green, blue, and purple arching between two small blue clouds under a big yellow sun, with a purple daisy on a green stem at the center. Signed Adriany in the top corner. — Rainbow, flower and sun

Everything that traveled, line by line

The July mission traveled with two customs manifests: the purchases made in Cúcuta, on the Colombian side, and those the team carried from the United States. Below, both consolidated, with the same totals those documents declare.

July mission inventory
Category	What it includes	Total
Food	Rice, beans, lentils and pasta for the camps' communal kitchens.	32 bags
Infant nutrition	Canned infant formula.	12 cans
Medicine	21 different medications: pediatric syrups for fever and cough, antihistamines, antidiarrheals, anti-inflammatories, burn cream, gum pain gel and water purification tablets.	91 units
Rehydration and fever	One hundred oral rehydration sachets and three hundred acetaminophen tablets.	400 units
Hygiene	400 children's toothbrushes, 200 adult brushes with toothpaste, 200 toothpaste tubes, 300 soap bars, 300 body wipes and 100 travel shampoos.	1,590 items
Toys and art supplies	Dolls, toy cars, balls, Play-Doh, crayons, watercolors, markers and twelve canvases.	39 pieces
Tools and rescue equipment	Flashlights, work gloves, rope, backup batteries, handheld radios and tools, handed to the crews clearing rubble in La Guaira.	27 pieces

Download the inventory of the July purchases in Cúcuta (PDF)

Quantities are those of the original manifests, unrounded. The July expense report is not published yet; for spending figures, write to donate@ihe.institute. Donations to the Venezuela fund are restricted: they pay for this relief work and nothing else.

Humanade, to ask for or offer help between missions

Humanade is the IHE platform for La Guaira, the same area as the July mission. Anyone can post what they need or what they can offer, and whoever can help writes to them directly.

Go to Humanade

Field updates go up on Instagram first

Deliveries, workshop moments and news from the team.

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