Hungry Venezuelans turn to Colombia for a plate of food
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/hungry-venezuelans-turn-colombia-plate-food-49206924
Under a scorching sun just a short walk from Colombia's border with Venezuela, hundreds of hungry men, women and children line up for bowls of chicken and rice the first full meal some have eaten in days.
An estimated 25,000 Venezuelans make the trek across the Simon Bolivar International Bridge into Colombia each day. Many come for a few hours to work or trade goods on the black market, looking for household supplies they cannot find back home.
But increasingly, they are coming to eat in one of a half-dozen facilities offering struggling Venezuelans a free plate of food.
"I never thought I'd say this," said Erick Oropeza, 29, a former worker with Venezuela's Ministry of Education who recently began crossing the bridge each day. "But I'm more grateful for what Colombia has offered me in this short time than what I ever received from Venezuela my entire life."