Help Families in Bogotá, Colombia Facing Hunger

"We are more scared of the hunger than of the coronavirus"

Hi Duke Community + Friends!

Colombia is facing unprecedented challenges regarding the Covid19 outbreak. Due to the recent lockdowns, hundreds of families in and around Bogotá are being subject to extreme hunger as they are left unemployed or forced to shutter their small, informal businesses, such as selling fruit or shoelaces on the street  As the mayor of Soacha, one of the biggest underprivileged neighborhoods in Bogotá stated, "more people will die from hunger than from the virus". 

The mission of this campaign is to raise funds to buy basic food and essential items for underprivileged families in Bogotá, Colombia's capital. It's also especially effective to donate now because of the exchange rate with the Dollar and Colombian Peso(@Dukeeconstudents: due to recent strengthening of the dollar, 1 dollar will now get you more Colombian pesos, so for example, 3 dollars can now buy 30 eggs...)
So a small impact can go a LONG way.

What has always set Duke apart is its people and the strength of its community. Today I am asking for your help. It pains me to see Colombian families suffering like this. Help me help them, and let's demonstrate that even though we come from a wide range of social and cultural backgrounds, the Duke Community stands as one, especially in times of adversity. 

To my class friends, my Duke Symphony friends, my Gilbert Addoms friends, my Greek Life friends, and all fellow Blue Devils-- let's take a stand together and provide some relief to Colombian families that are in desperate need. A small help will go a long way.

Thank you,

Maria Paz Rios 

VENMO: DukeforColombia

https://www.wsj.com/articles/in-developing-world-coronavirus-slams-workers-in-informal-economy-11585819801?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=1

"In Bogotá’s south, a largely working-class district in this city of 7.5 million, people like Victor Hugo Molina, 55, couldn’t wait for the cash advance. 

“I haven’t even had breakfast,” he said, tears welling up in his eyes. “I won’t last until next month. I can’t do it. That’s why I’m crying.”

People with more solid employment, among them Diego Garcia, a 28-year-old construction worker, said their lives also have been turned upside down. He said he used to earn as much as $350 a week, enough to take care of his family. Now, he can only afford to give his three small children rice, potatoes and eggs.

“I can last no more than until the end of next week,” he said as he stood in line waiting to receive a money transfer of barely $6 from a relative in another Colombian city." "


https://www.eltiempo.com/bogota/juan-carlos-saldarriaga-alcalde-de-soacha-puede-morir-mas-gente-de-hambre-que-por-coronavirus-476916

"A mí no me afana tanto el coronavirus como me afana el hambre en esta ciudad. Si no prendemos todas las alarmas y la cooperación internacional, vamos a tener más muertos por hambre que por coronavirus"
-- Soacha Mayor

--> "The hunger this city will face concerns me more than the coronavirus. If we don't sound the alarms for international cooperation, we will have many more deaths due to hunger than to the coronavirus"
-Soacha Mayor

https://noticias.caracoltv.com/coronavirus-covid-19/cacerolazo-en-la-localidad-santa-fe-porque-aguantan-hambre-en-cuarentena-nid226334-ie35596 

https://peoplesdispatch.org/2020/04/01/colombian-workers-demand-protection-from-hunger-during-covid-19-lockdown/