End of the Year Message

A very difficult year comes to an end and we are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. We at Healing Venezuela have many reasons to be grateful and positive about 2021 and would like to share with you what we could achieve thanks to your support.

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MEDICAL SUPPLIES

When COVID19 made it difficult to collect medical supplies from health centres in Europe, we looked for suppliers in Venezuela. After a selection process that included a cost comparison exercise and a pilot with different suppliers, we chose a vendor that guarantees excellent quality and good value for money. And, of course, we saved a lot on transport costs. In 2020, we were able to deliver more than 1 ton of vital supplies to 15 health centres mainly in rural areas.

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FOOD PROGRAMME

We continued feeding 150 children at risk of malnutrition in poor areas of Venezuela. A major challenge during 2020 has been the scarcity of petrol and of domestic gas. But our volunteers on the ground have managed to find ways, even with the COVID19 restrictions, to keep feeding the children twice a day 5 days a week with just $15 per month. As the UN has alerted, Venezuela is one of the 4 countries at risk of famine, so our aim is to grow this programme in 2021.

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MENTAL WELLBEING

Up to March 2020, more than 1,000 people, including children, were trained in mental wellbeing techniques. With the pandemic, we had to stop our face to face workshops. The new reality has posed new challenges. Isolation, losses, all contributed to an increase in mental problems around the world. This is why we continued to focus on this area, not with online meditations and conferences about how to handle anxiety, how to help children create a healthy relationship with the internet, how to face financial challenges amongst others.

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JUNIOR DOCTORS

Junior doctors are at the forefront of medical care in state hospitals in Venezuela. But they face huge challenges:  scarce resources, long hours and now a high risk of infection with COVID19. The salary they receive is between $8 to $12 per month. This is why throughout 2020, we continued paying a monthly grant to124 doctors in five hospitals in Venezuela. We have also provided them with extra PPE to face the pandemic.

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EQUIPMENT FOR DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT

In 2020 we continued maintaining the 3 water treatment plants we installed in hospitals, we repaired 2 vital medical equipment and we managed to ship an ultrasound machine and install it in a hospital in a rural area of the country. This programme is very efficient as we can positively impact the lives of thousands of people.

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PREGNANCY PREVENTION

During the second half of the year, we could restart the pregnancy prevention programme donating 369 coils and the supplies to insert them, plus PPE for doctors and nurses. We hope to continue with this programme in 2021.

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HOW WE DID IT

Yet again this year we were amazed and humbled by the level of support we received. Thanks to our wonderful volunteers and generous donors, to significant donations from private companies and trusts, plus sports events, wardrobe sales, online quiz, concerts and pop-ups, we were able to help thousands of people in Venezuela. We are now registered in France and in the process of registering in Spain. For all these reasons we are very optimistic about the future.

We want to take this opportunity to wish you a very happy holiday season and a great 2021.

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We leave you with this short video in the purest Venezuelan tradition!

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HAVE A WONDERFUL HOLIDAY SEASON!