Help me get an education!

Hi there!

I'm Lucía, I'm a 20-year-old venezuelan diabetic girl trying to kickstart her life in Canada! 

I graduated high school in 2019, months before COVID hit, and, due to the economic crisis in Venezuela (my home country), couldn't afford any continuing education to build a career on.

Venezuela has been suffering from hyperinflation since 2013 (currently 118%/year), leading to creative uses of foreign currencies and trading goods, living with rolling black-outs, rationing water, having no food at supermarkets (or money to buy the few that were still on the shelves) and to some citizens doing illegal activities to survive.

This has also led to crime rates being higher and for Venezuela to become one of the most dangerous countries to live in, especially for young women. To add to this situation my family and I found ourselves in, earlier this year after months of having strange symptoms and health complications, I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, which brought more financial challenges into my house and started a never-ending search for continued diagnosis, medication, supplies and saving money for those occasions were we did find everything I needed - which meant sacrificing other needs for them.

Thanks to my Canadian family offering me support, I was able to travel to Canada in 2022 and experience how ‘the other half’ lives! On my first day in Toronto, I actually asked if it was ok for me to (a) go for a walk on my own and (b) wear my headset outdoors. From the day I arrived, my only thought has been ‘how do I stay’.

I wanted to look into my opportunities for starting my undergraduate studies within Canada, as it has an excellent education system, is one of the safest countries for women to live in, and has access to all the medical supplies I need for my diabetes.

As I said before, my parents and I don't have savings and live day-to-day back home; there was a point in time when we had to pick if we had dinner, lunch or breakfast, with only lentils and sometimes coffee in our pantry.

Despite these challenges, I am a committed student. I've always been a great academic student, coming 7th best out of 47 students in my class according to my grades, with an average of 17 out of 20 points ( 3.4 GPA). I am bilingual (English/Spanish) and working on French as a third language (I have a B1 DELF diploma). I was also in the Model of the UN program and was one of the founders of the school paper - El Gallo Digital.

I'm asking you to help me raise $26,000 to cover the first 6 months of my journey while I await a legal work permit.

$7800 - Monthly rent and food ($1300 per month)

$2500 - ESL Pathway (which needs to be done before I can even start applying to colleges)

$1500 - Medical supplies ($250 per month)

$13000 - First quote of college tuition

$25000 - Total

I need help to make my dreams of studying abroad a reality. Canada gives priority to health, education and safety and everyone should be able to live in an environment that's safe, stable, and supportive.

I plan on paying it forward by helping somebody else in a similar situation to migrate to Canada within 10 years.

Thank you so much for helping me get a better life!