Like many migrants and refugees from Venezuela, Maury left her country hoping for a better future for herself and her family. In 2017 she moved to Chile wishing she could practice her medical profession there.
This 52-year-old pulmonologist from the Venezuelan city of Mérida decided to leave because the salary she earned as a doctor was not enough to support his family due to the complex economic and political situation his country was going through.
“With my salary I couldn’t buy food for the whole month and that’s why I decided to look for a job in Chile where I had acquaintances who encouraged me to leave,” he explains.
Leaving her mother and two children behind, she had to work very hard and overcome many obstacles when she moved.
Initially, Maury faced some challenges related to adjusting to a new culture and a different climate, and it took him a long time to get his medical qualifications recognized in the country that received it.
Dr. Maury (like many other emigrants) hopes to return to Venezuela one day.
From doctor to teacher
For seven months she taught Spanish online while taking a course that would help her prepare for the exams she needed to take to be authorized to work as a doctor in Chile.
“I remember how bad I had my first Christmas away from my country, and how long the immigration procedures were. I had to take 10 different exams. Without an identity document for the first five months, the registration process was not easy at all”, he recounts.
Maury is one of the hundreds of migrants who International Organization for Migration (OIM) assisted to take their immigration exams and deal with integration procedures in host communities.
Chile is one of the most prosperous countries in South America, and it continues to be, despite various restrictions imposed due to the pandemic, a destination for many Venezuelans seeking better socioeconomic opportunities.
Nearly 450,000 Venezuelan nationals are currently living in Chile making that country the fourth nation in Latin America that hosts the largest number of Venezuelan migrants after Colombia, Peru and Ecuador.
And from teacher to doctor
“When my qualifications were finally recognized, I was happy both professionally and financially,” he recalls.
Maury now teaches the same course that she had, for other migrants who find themselves in the situation that she experienced.
With thousands of medical professionals currently working in Chile and in neighboring countries, and with the provision of medical assistance both in cities and in areas of difficult access, Venezuelan doctors are the health care systems in Latin America.
Regularization brings benefits not only for displaced persons but also for the host communities that welcome them.
“I brought my baggage of knowledge to Chile, but the country is also teaching me things,” he says. “We migrants make many contributions to this country in various segments ranging from health to culture, including gastronomy,” she explains.
Maury is one of the 7.1 million Venezuelan migrants who currently live abroad and who have made a difference in the country that has welcomed them.
However, the spiraling cost of living, the collateral effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the high unemployment rate have increased the vulnerability of the almost six million Venezuelan migrants currently living in Latin America and the Caribbean and have made it difficult the task of rebuilding their lives and integrating into host societies.
Dr. Maury measuring the pulse of patients in Santiago de Chile.
An accent that makes you smile
The International Organization for Migration is increasing its efforts so that migrants They can take advantage of their abilities and be able to find suitable jobs with which to integrate and contribute to the Chilean society and economy.
“In order to play an important role in the social, economic, and cultural life of their host countries, it is necessary for migrants to have access to the same rights and opportunities as other people,” says the manager of the agency’s Office. of the UN in Chile, Richard Custodio Velázquez.
Although she has found happiness in her new home, Dr. Maury (like many other migrants) He hopes to be able to return to Venezuela one day if your country manages to make a drastic transformation.
Meanwhile, her experience with Chilean patients encourages her not to give up and the Caribbean empathy that she has makes her patients appreciate the care she provides.
“With my melodic Venezuelan accent I often make my patients smileeven sometimes in really difficult moments”, he says.
This story was written by Gema Cortés, IOM press officer in the Office of the Special Envoy for the Regional Response to the Situation in Venezuela.
