A Global Solidarity Fund project seeks to bridge the employment gap that prevents those crossing the border from Venezuela from finding work on Colombian soil. The challenge is to

efficiently and systematically link training centers run by religious congregations with companies offering stable employment. BY FELIPE HERRERA-ESPALIAT - SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT IN COLOMBIA

Cleiry Solózano still feels a surge of nostalgia whenever she sees young medical students wearing white coats. She too, once wore one when she was studying medicine in her native Venezuela,

but was forced to interrupt her university studies just a semester away from graduation to become a doctor. The precarious economic situation she, her husband and their three children found

some 1,500 km to the Pasto region in southern Colombia. But here they were unable to find the hoped-for opportunities for work or shelter. Like so many of the more than six million

Venezuelans who have left their homes in the last five years, Cleiry and her family kept moving around the coffee country, from town to town, until they settled in Bogotá. There their fourth

child was born. Cleiry Solórzano had to abandon her medical studies to emigrate from Venezuela. In Colombia she now earns her living baking bread and as a pastry chef, thanks to the

training and help received from the Scalabrinians. (@Margherita Mirabella/Archivio GSF)   (@Margherita Mirabella/Archivio GSF) OUTSTRETCHED HAND OF THE SCALABRINIANS The Colombian capital

counts over 7 million inhabitants, of which 400 to 500 thousand are Venezuelans who have lived there since 2017. The figure is not accurate because many of them have still not obtained

residency and continue to be undocumented, although the local government offers facilities to regularise their status as immigrants or political refugees. However, a lack of support and

networks that offer assistance makes the paperwork more complex for Venezuelans. There are some, however, who do much to help Venezuelans legalise their stay in Colombia, they are the

officials of the Centros Integrados de Atención al Migrante (CIAMI), run by the Scalabrinian religious congregation. "There are many people with chronic illnesses who need treatment or

medicines that are essential for their lives, but since they are not regularised in the territory, it is hard for them to obtain them. Similarly, they are required to have a residence permit

to access formal work. If they do not have one, they are forced to do informal work that does not guarantee them any income, and because they work for their daily needs their lives are

affected,” explains Camila Motta, legal advisor at the Scalabrinian Center in Bogotá.  08/10/2022 Various religious congregations, such as the Scalabrinians missionaries, the Sisters of

Divine Will, the Sister Adorers and the Scalabrinian Sisters, are part of a “Hub for social ... But the outstretched hand of these religious and their lay collaborators goes far beyond legal

issues, as they also take care of technical training for migrants so they can find employment or start their businesses. This was Cleiry Solórzano's experience in one of the CIAMI

centres where she and her husband received training in baking and pastry making. Thus, albeit informally, they were able to work and generate income to support their family. However, there

have been times when sales have been poor, and she who was once on the verge of becoming a doctor has been forced, like thousands of people in Bogotá, to spend hours rummaging through

rubbish bags in the streets to collect material for recycling to then sell it at a lower price. As legal advisor to the Centros de Atención al Migrante (CIAMI), Camila Motta listens to the

difficult stories of those who were forced to leave Venezuela and now have to regularise their situation in Colombia. (@Margherita Mirabella/Archivio GSF)   (@Margherita Mirabella/Archivio

GSF) FROM TRAINING TO STABLE EMPLOYMENT Although there are more and more opportunities for Venezuelans coming to Colombia to learn trades that are valued by the labour market, it continues

to be difficult for them to obtain stable employment. This is not only because of legal aspects but also because until now there has been no organic link between the religious congregations

that offer technical training and the companies that can offer employment. This was precisely the situation identified by the Global Solidarity Fund (GSF) charity, which is currently

investing resources in Colombia to bridge the employment gap that stops migrants from accessing stable employment. This will allow them not only to survive but also to gain greater autonomy

for their own lives and that of their families. The GSF promotes this initiative through a Hub for Social Innovation, i.e., a collaborative network that accelerates and facilitates contact

between training projects and companies. These companies value the quality of the training obtained by Venezuelans after passing through the religious congregations' training centres.

The Scalabrinian religious have been included in the Hub for Social Innovation, which helps them run three large training centres in Bogotá, Cúcuta and Villa del Rosario. They are experts in

accompanying migrants and they know that the chances of finding a job increase when one can present an official diploma from a training institution. "Our mission is to promote

entrepreneurship and employability through basic courses, from the perspective of work skills, which means widening the possibilities of venturing into the labour market based on a

certification issued by some higher education institution," explains Alejandro Torres, training coordinator of the CIAMI training centres. It was in one of these centres that Cleiry

Solórzano trained, and today, despite life's difficulties, she looks to her future with hope. "This type of project helps us to be trained, to obtain employment because we cannot

think of staying informal workers. We have to try to get more stability for the future. These projects helped me to get by, to open up new horizons, and to develop the idea that, beyond

being a doctor, I could open a bakery and a pastry shop. These are new talents that I didn't know I possessed and that this journey has helped me to explore and exploit," concludes

Cleiry, who is now also, enthusiastically, attending a manicure course at the Uniagostiniana University in Bogotá. The Global Solidarity Fund has established a Hub for Social Innovation in

Colombia that helps religious congregations be more coordinated and efficient in their technical training service to migrants. (@Margherita Mirabella/Archivio GSF)   (@Margherita

Mirabella/Archivio GSF)