When Verama Basdeo, 40, escaped the harsh economic crisis in Venezuela and returned to Guyana, she dreamed of a better life, but she can never achieve those dreams if she continues living on the Parika Sea Dam.
She fled in 2019 with her Venezuelan husband, Richard Moreno, 46, her son, Luiggi, now 18 and her now 21-year-old daughter, Nataly and ended up living in the depressed East Bank Essequibo community.
Nataly has a one-year-old son and is separated from her partner. Verama also has a 15-year-old daughter, Valeria, who was left behind with her grandmother because she (Verama) did not have the money to bring her. They would send a little money to support her.
