FLOOD RESPONSE IN CORDOBA
Flooding in Cordoba damaged thousands of people’s homes, isolated communities, and limited access to essential services such as safe water and food.
Because of this, at CADENA Colombia, we launched a response operation together with our volunteers, allies, and community leaders, prioritizing hard-to-reach areas where help took longer to arrive.
Throughout several weeks, we distributed food, hygiene kits, clothing, and items for temporary shelters, and strengthened access to safe water, supporting over 24,500 families over the course of the intervention.
Aside from delivering aid, we focused on adapting our operations to the territory’s dynamics, working hand in hand with communities and amplifying the reach of our response in hard-to-access areas.
This intervention allowed us to reduce health risks, improve living conditions, and strengthen communities’ emergency response capacities.
RESPONSE TO DISPLACEMENT IN THE CATACUMBO REGION
The Catatumbo region faces a new wave of violence that has caused the displacement of thousands of people, forcing families to abandon their homes in municipalities such as Tibu, looking for safety in nearby cities like Cucuta.
In response to this context, at CADENA Colombia, together with other organizations, we launched an intervention at the Camilo Daza neighbourhood, one of the main arrival points for displaced families. We aimed to address immediate needs and to support the community in a time of great vulnerability.
A team of five volunteers coordinated the distribution of food kits and blankets to improve the living conditions of recently arrived families. At the same time, we created spaces for psychosocial guidance and listening, especially focusing on emotional support in this context of forced change.
As part of these actions, we shared “The Butterfly’s Flight” handbooks, tools designed to strengthen the resilience of people facing migration and to guide complex adaptation processes.
FLOOD RESPONSE IN THE SOUTHWEST OF COLOMBIA
Flooding in the country’s Southwest continues to affect communities with limited access whose geographical conditions challenge the timely arrival of humanitarian assistance.
In this context, at CADENA Colombia, together with other organizations, we deployed our team to respond to this emergency in Valle del Cauca, Nariño, and Cordoba, focusing on regions where needs were more urgent, and help took the longest to arrive.
In Buenaventura, we reached communities in Rio Raposo, Rio Mayorquin, and the Mayorquin neighborhood, working in close collaboration with community councils to better adapt to local needs. A team of five volunteers coordinated the distribution of 1,100 food kits, 1,100 cleaning kits, and 20 water storage tanks, improving basic conditions in highly affected areas.
In each of these rivers, we assisted over 15 districts, reaching 4,400 people in rural areas with limited access to essential services, even outside of emergency contexts.
This response was made possible thanks to the support of Start Network, which allowed us to activate rapid action mechanisms and to further our reach in territories where operations face significant logistical challenges.
HEALTH BRIGADE: RESPONSE TO IMMEDIATE NEEDS
At the Bakata Center, we aided 40 women experiencing homelessness through a dental brigade to address urgent and often long-overdue oral health needs. This intervention allowed us to directly treat health conditions that impact daily life and, in many cases, do not receive timely care.
A team of five general volunteers and three volunteer dentists coordinated consultations, as well as the delivery of clothing, personal hygiene items, and oral health kits to strengthen basic care and prevention.
