One week ago, twin earthquakes tore through the Venezuelan coastline Lori Adams-Brown grew up on. In this solo episode, recorded live and shared here as this week's show, Lori reports what's actually happening on the ground, draws on her firsthand experience coordinating relief after the 2004 Indonesian tsunami, and gives you a vetted list of where to send help right now.
The scale of the disaster: two quakes thirty-nine seconds apart, the strongest Venezuela has felt in over a century, and a death toll still rising
What Lori learned coordinating UN OCHA relief efforts after the 2004 Indonesian tsunami, and how that experience is shaping what she's watching for in Venezuela now
The political obstacles slowing rescue efforts, including documented interference with aid access
Why children are especially vulnerable after a disaster like this, and what trauma-informed care actually looks like
A vetted list of organizations working on the ground right now, and what to check before you give
What it means that some of the hardest-hit families had just been deported back into the disaster zone
This is a solo episode. Lori spent five years in Indonesia coordinating infrastructure and relief projects through UN OCHA after the 2004 tsunami, and is drawing directly on that experience here.
00:00 — Why Lori is recording this today
01:30 — What happened: twin earthquakes, June 24
03:30 — Scale of the damage and the rising death toll
07:55 — The epicenter, decades of substandard construction, and a 1999 disaster that echoes this one
13:00 — Documented interference with rescue access
17:00 — Lessons from the 2004 Indonesian tsunami response
24:00 — Children, trauma, and why “resilience” can be misread
27:15 — Vetted organizations on the ground right now
33:00 — The Darién Gap, asylum, and families caught between two crises
38:15 — How to help if you can't give: attention as aid
40:00 — Listener Q&A: large NGOs vs. local organizations
46:10 — A closing note on ICE deportations into the disaster zone
49:58 — Closing thoughts
Website: https://www.aworldofdifferencepodcast.com | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/loriadamsbrown | Substack: https://loriadamsbrown.substack.com | Instagram linktree (vetted donation list): see Instagram bio
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