Opened late last year with a capacity for housing about 250 people, a former warehouse turned shelter in Pacaraima, a hardscrabble dusty border town in the middle of the Brazilian Amazon, now has upward of 500 Venezuelan Warao indigenous, and more are arriving daily.

Women cook over a dozen little open fires, while men lie on hammocks inside an adjoining building and naked children with distended bellies and dirty faces run around the shelter for the Warao who have fled Venezuela’s troubles.

In this March 10, 2018 photo, Warao indigenous families from Venezuela cook in an outdoor area of a shelter, in Pacaraima, the main entry point for Venezuelans, in the Brazilian state of Roraima.(AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

In this March 10, 2018 photo, a Venezuelan Warao woman quarters a chicken to cook over a fire in an outdoor kitchen area at a shelter, in Pacaraima, Brazil. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

“The life of Warao is all about Warao,” said Teolinda Moralera, who came to the shelter two weeks ago with her husband and three children.

Authorities in Pacaraima say the Warao began crossing into the region in 2016, a full year before tens of thousands of non-indigenous Venezuelans began arriving.

Health workers scramble to identify children with measles — one in the shelter died this month — and address severe malnutrition and myriad other medical issues.

“All Venezuelans arriving here are in a precarious situation,” said Luis Fernando Peres, one of the lead volunteers with Fraternity International Humanitarian Federation, one of the groups working at the shelter. “The Warao are arriving in even worse shape.”

As Brazilian authorities scramble to accommodate tens of thousands of desperate Venezuelans crossing the country’s northern border to escape their homeland’s economic collapse and political unrest, the indigenous Warao are emerging as their biggest challenge.

Despite the difficulties and an uncertain future, many Warao say they are happy to be in Brazil, even going so far as to call the shelter a “paradise” compared to what they left behind.

In this March 10, 2018 photo, the shadows of Warao children are cast on a blanket serving as a curtain at a shelter in Pacaraima, Brazil. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

In this March 10, 2018 photo, a Warao refugee looks out from his hammock next to families sitting on the floor at a shelter, in Pacaraima, Brazil. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

In this March 10, 2018 photo, 2-year-old Warao Ricardo Zapata kicks an inflatable ball inside a shelter, in Pacaraima, Brazil. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

In this March 10, 2018 photo, a Warao youth of Venezuela leans on a gate next to a wall with a sign that reads in Warao; "Big House", at a shelter, in Pacaraima, Brazil. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

In this March 10, 2018 photo, a Warao woman and child from Venezuela, rest on a hammock at a shelter, in Pacaraima, Brazil. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

This March 10, 2018 photo shows an adornment depicting a traditional Warao thatched roof hut made from palm fibers hanging inside a shelter, in Pacaraima, Brazil. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

In this March 10, 2018 photo, Warao Cesar Mariano, 58, from Venezuela, wears a cap featuring the national flag of his native country, at a shelter, in Pacaraima, Brazil. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

In this March 10, 2018 photo, Warao children from Venezuela play in a shelter, in Pacaraima, Brazil. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

In this March 10, 2018 photo, a Warao boy from Venezuela dons a mask fashioned from cardboard in a shelter, in Pacaraima, Brazil. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

In this March 10, 2018 photo, Warao children from Venezuela watch cartoons on a computer laptop in a shelter, in Pacaraima, Brazil. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

In this March 10, 2018 photo, a Warao woman from Venezuela, cooks bread over a fire in the outdoor area of a shelter, in Pacaraima, Brazil. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)