BOA VISTA, Brazil – “I had a house, a car, everything I needed. When the economic crisis started, everything came crashing down,” said 70-year-old widow Alegria Campos. Life in Venezuela used to be good – even “perfect” – for Ms. Campos. But with the country continuing to struggle under grinding poverty and political instability, the mother-of-three and grandmother-of-five made the difficult choice in November 2022 to leave home behind.
BOA VISTA, Roraima – In December 2022, 12 Venezuelan women and girls gathered at Rio Branco Park in Boa Vista, Brazil, and stood before an eight-metre-high white wall. For them, it was a blank canvas – one that would soon be transformed by colour, creativity and an appeal for gender equality. “It is amazing to be here,” said 17-year-old Ericka, one of the dozen mural painters. “It's not easy to move somewhere else, leave your friendships behind and adapt.”
MANAUS, Brazil – “I saw the change in the women who didn't have courage, who cried with fear in a corner,” said Lutana Ribeiro, from Manaus, the capital of Brazil’s largest state of Amazonas. Ms. Ribeiro is well known among her community as a staunch defender of human rights – and the only female chief of Parque das Tribos, the first indigenous neighbourhood in Manaus to be officialized by the city government.