Maria Dolores Jaime, 76, gestures during a visit by Maria Carolina Borges (out of frame), a volunteer member of the CONVITE civil association, in the Petare neighborhood, Caracas, on January 30, 2023. - The non-profit NGO CONVITE works in care projects for the elderly, targeted as vulnerable population in Venezuela since a large number live in loneliness or social isolation. Volunteers get in touch with them with the aim of establishing a friendly bond in order to take care of their emotional and health condition, among other things. (Photo by Yuri CORTEZ / AFP)
An old radio plays background music as Cira Madrid, 83, prepares coffee for a rare visitor to her small but spotless apartment in Caracas, where she lives alone.
Her face lights up at the arrival of Morella Russian, a volunteer with the Convite NGO whose projects include taking care of Venezuela's elderly -- thousands of them abandoned amid an exodus of younger people seeking better lives elsewhere.
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