Third Quarterly Report 2024

October 2, 2024

Dear Supporters,

As we close this quarter, we want to provide an update on our recent activities. Despite the ongoing political turmoil following the July 28th presidential elections, our dedication to serving Venezuela’s most vulnerable remains steadfast. Our hearts go out to the loved ones of those who lost their lives during the protests.

The public health situation in Venezuela continues to be dire, highlighting the critical importance of our work. With so many conflicts around the world, your generosity towards our cause makes a real difference in the lives of countless Venezuelans. Thank you on behalf of all of them. Below is a brief summary of our accomplishments over the past three months.

Cynthia De Santis
Chair & Founder
Healing Venezuela

Fernanda, a 28-year-old doctor living on Margarita Island, had seriously considered giving up her dream of becoming a surgeon. Her salary of $50 per month was not enough to support herself and her family, especially as her father was unemployed. Fernanda and her mother also care for a grandfather who had suffered a stroke and a niece who is living with them.

Fernanda felt incredibly fortunate when she was granted a Healing Venezuela scholarship. In her own words, “Thanks to your support, I can buy food for myself and my family, which means one less worry. I am very grateful to Healing Venezuela for helping me achieve my goal. In December 2024, I will finish my training and I will graduate as a surgeon!”

Fernanda is one of the 60 junior doctors we sponsor with a monthly scholarship of $75. Their commitment to the less fortunate is admirable, and during the past quarter, they attended 33,691 patients in 8 state hospitals. To be recipients of this scholarship, doctors have to stay in the country for 2 years. Fernanda and her colleagues will continue helping the less privileged in Venezuela.

Water quality in Venezuela is dangerously poor, often carrying harmful diseases. Since 2018, one of our key programmes has focused on providing potable water to Venezuelan hospitals by installing purification systems. Our efforts have brought clean water to the kitchens of three major hospitals in Caracas, benefiting over 50,000 people annually.

This year, we’ve expanded the reach of this programme by extending the pipeline network to other critical areas within the same hospitals. This past quarter at Vargas Hospital, one of Venezuela’s largest hospitals and a prestigious medical school, we connected the water purification plant in the kitchen with other vital areas such as intensive care, surgery, and the delivery room. This expansion has resulted in a significant increase in potable water production, averaging 150% more consumption than the previous quarter, for a total of 85,626 litres.

The humanitarian crisis in Venezuela has had a devastating impact, with the malnutrition rate among children skyrocketing to the second-highest in the Americas, surpassed only by Haiti.

Our food security programme targets impoverished areas, such as the village of Guaraunos, where during the school year we have been providing daily meals to 100 children since 2019.

In these past summer holidays, we kept feeding 35 vulnerable children, distributing 9,900 meals.

Volunteers like Meldy have been indispensable to this programme, She shares, “Every day, I witness the incredible support that Healing Venezuela provides to my village. Unfortunately, many families lack the resources to feed their children with a balanced diet, making Healing Venezuela’s assistance crucial. Volunteering for this programme brings me immense joy—I love helping those in need; it’s my passion.“

And ours too, dear Meldy!

Healing Venezuela has been dedicated to promoting family planning and reproductive health since 2018. To date, our programmes have empowered 2,579 women from low-income backgrounds to make informed decisions about their pregnancies.

In 2024, we implemented a new approach. As it’s a requisite to bring their medical supplies to be admitted to state hospitals, we provided pregnancy kits to 240 expecting women (including 30 teenagers), enabling them to have safer natural or cesarean deliveries. Through conversations with them, we heard heartbreaking stories, such as that of a 14-year-old who was a victim of domestic abuse and a mother of 12 who couldn’t afford contraceptives.

One of our beneficiaries is Esperanza, a young, unemployed single mother of four. She became pregnant but couldn’t afford hospital care for childbirth. Esperanza and her children live in a shack without potable water or electricity. Healing Venezuela’s assistance was crucial in allowing her to deliver her baby safely in a hospital. Both mother and child are healthy, but Esperanza, and many others, desire to avoid future unwanted pregnancies. We plan to assist 80 women from this group of 240 who expressed the same concern by providing their preferred contraceptive methods, such as t-coils or hormonal implants. We aim to launch this programme early next year.

We were deeply touched by the numerous organisations and individuals who supported our work this past quarter. From Australia to France and Northern Ireland, we extend our sincere gratitude to all those who fundraised for Healing Venezuela. Our special thanks to VESO (Venezolanos en Sydney Oficial),Jany Leseur Escala and her team from Healing Venezuela France, and Marisol Giardina, our new trustee from Northern Ireland. A big thank you to Indigo Coffee and Arepa & Co. for donating a percentage of their sales of specific products.

Companies like ICG Asset Management play a crucial role in supporting charities. We are extremely grateful to them, as well as to Belén Masson for her outstanding advocacy of our cause.

We encourage you to reach out to your network, both personally and professionally, to share our work. Corporations have proven to be vital partners in our mission. If you work for or know someone who works for a company affiliated with Benevity or that has Corporate Social Responsibility programmes, please contact us. We would be happy to discuss how you can help.

As the giving season approaches, we invite you to join us in our GivingTuesday Campaign on December 3rd. This is an opportunity for you to make a generous contribution to our mission.

Until November, we wish you a healthy, peaceful, and fruitful time.