Together with partners, UNHCR, the city’s firefighters and youth volunteers have built three super-sized Better Shelters (each made up of four standard Better Shelters) to increase the size and capacity of a municipal community diner in Ibarra, Ecuador.
Now, the diner will be able to serve more than 400 meals per day to people at risk, both Ecuadorian and refugees (especially Venezuelan).
The coronavirus pandemic has significantly affected Ecuador, with hundreds of businesses closing as a result. Thousands of people have died and millions have lost their jobs. The community diner adapted by offering hot meals to people who cannot feed their families. Most of the people who come to eat at community diner are elderly from Ecuador, Colombian refugees and refugees and migrants from Venezuela.
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According to UNHCR, it took more than 15 hours and about 40 volunteers to build the Better Shelter dining rooms.
