Down a wide street here in the state capital, Maracaibo, sits a modest building, painted blue, called Casa Hogar Carmela Valera.
It is a boarding school for girls in need, run by cheery nuns who swish down its sunny hallways in long black habits. In the past, students came here after parents died or began to use drugs. Today, at least half of its residents have a parent abroad.
The girls share a peach-colored bedroom, a kitchen, a chapel, a small mess hall and patio with a basketball court and a stage.
The school has seen better times. It has running water for a short period about every two weeks, and the girls shower, cook and flush the toilet using water they save in any containers they can find. They have no light bulbs for one of their two bathrooms, which means they brush their teeth on slippery floors in the dark.