Family wastes away in the Capotillo Tunnel

Ñiorkis Maria Victor, distraught and unable to hold back her tears, recounts her difficult situation with two of her three children. Her eldest son, 15 years old, had a tumor detected in her head, and her youngest son, only seven years old, had a “rod pierce his anus,” she said as tears streamed down her face. Ñiorkis and her husband try to survive and raise their three children despite their precarious living conditions in a small house in a deplorable state with poor human and health conditions.

The family lives in a kind of open cave in the Capotillo Tunnel, National District, crammed together in two rooms, separated by a bathroom without a door, all divided with rusty zinc sheets and cardboard. The space where the small two-level cabin is located is narrow and without ventilation, and it is made up of two old mattresses. Every night, her three children sleep in these conditions. She also has a 12-year-old girl who assists her with household chores.

According to Maria, her eldest son was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Despite having subsidized insurance, the mother claims that “the boy is not receiving any kind of treatment” and does not have the financial means to cover the costs. When explaining the state of her eldest son, Ñiorkis is overcome with sadness. “Doctors said the tumor couldn’t be removed because it was touching parts of the brain.”