By Peter Holmes à Court | April 18, 2019 | South Sudan

CÚCUTA, Colombia – Venezuelan Jose Luis Jimenez already risked bandits and armed groups to slip across the border to Colombia in a desperate hunt for food for his family – but this week that crossing got even more dangerous.

With the border bridge shut, he joined thousands of Venezuelans fording the torrential waters of a border river in full spate, to seek urgent help in this border city.

“I am very grateful to UNHCR and the Diocese,” said the wiry 48-year-old with a weather-beaten face. “I rely on this service to feed myself and my children and I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have it.” Amid spiraling hyperinflation, shortages, political turmoil, violence and persecution, more than 2.7 million Venezuelans have left the country as refugees or migrants since 2015 to seek safety or a better life abroad.

The kitchen, aptly named La Divina Providencia, or Divine Providence, serves up to 8,000 meals a day and is a lifeline to Venezuelan refugees and migrants transiting through Cúcuta but also to people like Jose Luis who continue to live in Venezuela but cross the border to Colombia every day. Showers, medical consulations, and legal aid are also available there.

To earn a few Colombian pesos, he carries heavy loads for other Venezuelans who travel to Cúcuta to buy food, medicines or other goods that are scarce or impossible to find in their country.