A Hug for Venezuela
Donation protected
I’m Jose Leonardo Rondon Rivas, I was born in Merida Venezuela and I'm living in Sydney, Australia and I'm taking the first step in making a positive difference to the lives of the Venezuelan People who are suffering the consequences of extortionate economic inflation. Food, clothing and basic medical supplies are scarce, and people are risking their freedom and even losing their lives in their everyday fight for survival.
VENEZUELA INFLATION:
For Venezuelans, everyday life has become a struggle to survive. The minimum wage is 5 Million Bolivars a month, which at the official rate is approximately AUD$41. But very few people have access to that rate in practice, and resort to the black market where they get about AUD$1 per month.
Consumer prices in Venezuela jumped 488,865 percent year-on-year in September of 2018. Inflation Rate in Venezuela averaged 1692.21 percent from 1973 until 2018, reaching an all-time high of 2,295,982.00 percent in January of 2019.
FOOD:
As a consequence the People of Venezuela have no other choice than to travel long distances, queue for 8 hours or more, to finally be presented with whatever produce that is available, at a cost that strips families of a huge percentage of their total income. It is said that an entire month’s pay check isn’t enough for a minimum wage worker to feed a family.
The citizens who do not have time to stand in line for such long periods of time, have no other choice than to buy what they need on the black market for up to 3 times the regulated price, if and when it becomes available.
MEDICINE:
Medical supplies in Venezuela are imported from the United States and are bought with US Dollars. With the exchange rate being so low between the Venezuelan Bolivar and the US Dollar it is becoming more and more difficult for the country to supply its people with even the basic medical equipment.
Hospitals and surgeries are struggling every day. Soap, medicine, electricity and even food are lacking in hospitals around the country.
There are many sad stories to tell of people losing their lives due to the lack of equipment and drugs in hospitals. People queue at each accessible pharmacy in hope to get the medicine needed to keep their loved ones alive.
WHAT I WANT TO ACHIEVE
I have created a small donation campaign in the hope that people learn what is happening in Venezuela and will help to spread the word. Many people are aware of the situation, but don’t know how to help. This is why we have decided to do something about it, with the aim to help our people, my Venezuela get through these tough times.
My parents volunteer for a non-lucrative Venezuelan organization called APEP which is sort of an Association to Promote Popular Education in the small community of Jaji located one hour away from Merida city. This Association provides education to those children who are not lucky enough to get access to education due to many reasons such as living in remote areas, parents can't afford to pay uniforms/books, food shortages make it hard for schools to provide proper meals to these poor kids and so on...
As described above, people do not have access to food, clothing and/or personal care products and many other basic needs indispensable to survive. This is where I will step in.
Please help me to help the less fortunate people. We are blessed to have a roof, running water, electricity and 3 meals a day... they don't have anything.
The plan is to raise money from this campaign in order to:
- Cover Shipment costs of donations from Australia to the small Community of Jaji in Merida, Venezuela.
- Buy medicines/personal care products and send them to the small Community of Jaji in Merida, Venezuela.
By doing this, my aim is to help families living in remote areas who have no access to education, medicines and basic personal care products.
People from all over the world have also asked how they can help, there many ways you can help, small donations as little as 5 dollars can make a difference, every cent count, sharing this is also a valuable help. Let’s make the world aware of what is happening and let’s appeal for the people’s better nature.
If you wish to help, any kind of support will be much appreciated.
Thank you in advance.
VENEZUELA INFLATION:
For Venezuelans, everyday life has become a struggle to survive. The minimum wage is 5 Million Bolivars a month, which at the official rate is approximately AUD$41. But very few people have access to that rate in practice, and resort to the black market where they get about AUD$1 per month.
Consumer prices in Venezuela jumped 488,865 percent year-on-year in September of 2018. Inflation Rate in Venezuela averaged 1692.21 percent from 1973 until 2018, reaching an all-time high of 2,295,982.00 percent in January of 2019.
FOOD:
As a consequence the People of Venezuela have no other choice than to travel long distances, queue for 8 hours or more, to finally be presented with whatever produce that is available, at a cost that strips families of a huge percentage of their total income. It is said that an entire month’s pay check isn’t enough for a minimum wage worker to feed a family.
The citizens who do not have time to stand in line for such long periods of time, have no other choice than to buy what they need on the black market for up to 3 times the regulated price, if and when it becomes available.
MEDICINE:
Medical supplies in Venezuela are imported from the United States and are bought with US Dollars. With the exchange rate being so low between the Venezuelan Bolivar and the US Dollar it is becoming more and more difficult for the country to supply its people with even the basic medical equipment.
Hospitals and surgeries are struggling every day. Soap, medicine, electricity and even food are lacking in hospitals around the country.
There are many sad stories to tell of people losing their lives due to the lack of equipment and drugs in hospitals. People queue at each accessible pharmacy in hope to get the medicine needed to keep their loved ones alive.
WHAT I WANT TO ACHIEVE
I have created a small donation campaign in the hope that people learn what is happening in Venezuela and will help to spread the word. Many people are aware of the situation, but don’t know how to help. This is why we have decided to do something about it, with the aim to help our people, my Venezuela get through these tough times.
My parents volunteer for a non-lucrative Venezuelan organization called APEP which is sort of an Association to Promote Popular Education in the small community of Jaji located one hour away from Merida city. This Association provides education to those children who are not lucky enough to get access to education due to many reasons such as living in remote areas, parents can't afford to pay uniforms/books, food shortages make it hard for schools to provide proper meals to these poor kids and so on...
As described above, people do not have access to food, clothing and/or personal care products and many other basic needs indispensable to survive. This is where I will step in.
Please help me to help the less fortunate people. We are blessed to have a roof, running water, electricity and 3 meals a day... they don't have anything.
The plan is to raise money from this campaign in order to:
- Cover Shipment costs of donations from Australia to the small Community of Jaji in Merida, Venezuela.
- Buy medicines/personal care products and send them to the small Community of Jaji in Merida, Venezuela.
By doing this, my aim is to help families living in remote areas who have no access to education, medicines and basic personal care products.
People from all over the world have also asked how they can help, there many ways you can help, small donations as little as 5 dollars can make a difference, every cent count, sharing this is also a valuable help. Let’s make the world aware of what is happening and let’s appeal for the people’s better nature.
If you wish to help, any kind of support will be much appreciated.
Thank you in advance.
Organizer and beneficiary
Leo Rivas
Organizer
Alexandria, NSW
Leo Rivas
Beneficiary