Venezuelan teacher Jazmín Urimare Ramírez launches school in shelter after deadly June earthquakes

On June 24, 2024, two powerful earthquakes of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 struck Venezuela, leaving about 18,000 people without homes, especially in the La Guaira region. Veteran teacher Jazmín Urimare Ramírez, who has taught for 28 years and is battling cancer, arrived at a refugee camp in Catia La Mar two days later. She began teaching children under a canvas tent in the shelter located opposite a baseball stadium.

With donated notebooks, books, pencils, desks and a television, the makeshift "Escuela Urimare" grew from an initial ten pupils to 74. Donations arrived from across Caracas, including a tent supplied by deputy Yeinny Pinto and tables and fans from Minister of Women Yelitze Santaella, as well as additional desks from a carpenter in Maracay. Classes run in the mornings and recreational activities in the afternoons, giving displaced children a structured routine and hope amid the disaster.