IBBY Children in Crisis: Venezuela

On June 24, 2026, twin tremors measuring 7.5 and 7.2 magnitude devastated the capital of Venezuela Caracas and the coastal state of La Guaira. As of June 29, reports indicate that over 1,700 people have been killed, with thousands more injured, missing, or displaced. The destruction of homes, schools, and community infrastructure has left survivors in a state of profound psychological shock and physical vulnerability. 

The human toll continues to mount with immense consequences for children and families. UNICEF estimates that over 680,000 children will be in need of humanitarian assistance after the catastrophe. In the face of such devastation, the loss of routine, safety, and home disrupts the inner world of children far beyond immediate physical needs. The assault on stability and the trauma of displacement require urgent psychosocial intervention to help children process grief, make sense of chaos, and begin to rewrite their own stories through the safety of imagination.
 

IBBY Children in Crisis Fund Project: “Reading to Live” 2026

In this time of profound crisis, our IBBY Venezuela colleagues at Banco del Libro are mobilizing on the ground amidst the widespread destruction. Banco del Libro is urgently reactivating its historic project approach, Reading to Live, in seven affected communities across La Guaira and Caracas. María Beatriz Medina, Executive Director of Banco del Libro, emphasizes the critical role of literature in survival: “Literature is not presented here as entertainment, but as a fundamental tool for survival, accompaniment, and personal and social reconstruction.”

With a widely recognized and often replicated methodology, the Reading to Live project aims to reach an estimated 840 direct beneficiaries, including children, youth, teachers, and community leaders. Through a structured approach, the initiative will provide:

• Psychosocial Training: Induction workshops for volunteers and reading promoters to manage emotional impact and prepare for facilitating healing spaces.
• Story Hours & Serial Read-Alouds: Regular gatherings in shelters and tents for children and adults, using fiction to create spaces for collective catharsis and intimate affective exchange.
• Traveling Book Bags: Distribution of 14 durable, water-resistant backpacks containing curated collections of picture books and novels, rotating among families and provisional classrooms.
• Meet the Creators: Special events with authors and illustrators to break the harsh routine of emergency life and strengthen community trust.
• Expression Kits: Distribution of 700 notebooks and crayons to allow children to draw and write, processing trauma through creative expression.

The total funding requested to implement this vital intervention is USD 13,570. This budget covers essential personnel, logistics for reaching hard-to-access shelter areas, the procurement of 490 high-quality books tailored for bibliotherapy, and the materials needed to sustain these reading spaces. Every donation contributes directly to establishing a network of trained community promoters who can sustain this resilience work long after the initial emergency phase.