When home becomes the epicenter of disaster

Jun 27, 2026 | 0 comments

By Karla Sánchez Arismendi

For many people in Cuenca, the devastating earthquake in Venezuela was just another international headline.

For many of us at GRACE Foundation in Cuenca, it was home.

I was born in Venezuela. So were many of the staff members and volunteers who serve every day at GRACE. When news of the earthquake broke, our phones immediately filled with frantic messages. We weren’t reading about strangers — we were trying to reach our parents, siblings, grandparents, childhood friends, and former colleagues.

By the grace of God, our immediate families in Caracas are safe.

Not everyone received that same blessing.

Some of our closest friends lost their lives. Others have lost their homes, their businesses, or are desperately searching for loved ones. Like so many Venezuelans living abroad, we have spent the past several days grieving while feeling the helplessness that comes from being thousands of miles away.

But grief can also become action.

At GRACE Foundation in Cuenca, we asked ourselves a simple question: What can we do from here?

The answer was to use something we have spent years building — relationships.

Rather than waiting for large international shipments of relief supplies to be delivered, we began working directly with trusted doctors, journalists, nonprofit organizations, and humanitarian leaders already inside Venezuela. Through them, donations made here in Ecuador are immediately converted into medicines, clean drinking water, medical supplies, and emergency essentials purchased within the country and delivered directly to hospitals and communities in need.

International humanitarian aid is beginning to arrive, but slowly. The damage to Venezuela’s main international airport has complicated logistics, and international shipments must also navigate the many administrative processes required before reaching affected communities.

Meanwhile, every hour matters.

This week, GRACE Foundation has also become a collection center for humanitarian donations in Cuenca. The generosity of this community has been overwhelming. We know that the physical donations collected here will likely take another week or more before they arrive in Venezuela and complete the necessary logistical and governmental processes.

That is why, while those shipments are being prepared, we are purchasing emergency supplies directly inside Venezuela through trusted local partners.

One thing this tragedy has reminded me of is that compassion has no borders.

The same community that has welcomed thousands of Venezuelans over the years is now reaching back across borders to help families they may never meet. Americans, Ecuadorians, Canadians, Europeans, and Venezuelans and many more are standing together with one purpose: to save lives.

As someone who now calls Cuenca home, I cannot adequately express what that the effort means to us.

On behalf of everyone at GRACE — and on behalf of so many families in Venezuela — thank you for reminding us that even in humanity’s darkest moments, kindness still travels farther than fear.

If you would like to support the ongoing humanitarian response or learn more about GRACE Foundation’s work, please visit https://thegraceorg.org.

For those wishing to make a donation, GRACE’s banking information is included below.