I want to keep you informed of the progress in our saga to bring antibiotics to the children of the J.M. de los Rios Children Hospital in Caracas.
Today Atty. Yvonne Sarmiento called me from Cucuta, Colombia. The past week the Foundation had sent money to Cucuta by Western Union—two small mounts of $400 each so that she would not have problems cashing them. Apparently, more than that becomes subject of scrutiny.
She called me this morning, Sunday June 23, 2019, and told me she had received the funds, and she had gone to several pharmacies, buying antibiotics. She had obtained receipts, and would take a picture of the merchandise.
She was keeping some cash to pay for duties. People can bring a limited number of packages from Colombia to Caracas but must pay duties in route.
Just to give you an idea of the trip, it takes 18 hrs. by bus one way. Ms. Sarmiento takes this trip several times a year. The cost in dollars is not high, but it is difficult to find space because of the demand for the trip by the population who goes to buy needed staples. Someone made a report of a similar shorter trip—only from Barquisimeto, not Caracas-- in https://www.caracaschronicles.com/2016/11/28/the-country-you-meet-on-the-bus-to-cucuta/
Now, she has to make it back, and I will keep you informed as to her progress.
Atty. Sarmiento is a brave lawyer in Caracas, who is active in the Relief Society of her community. As a lawyer, she defends the children and women from abuse in the courts. She has been the representative of the foundation for the past three years as a volunteer. She is a fine example of some of the great people in Venezuela. We hear so much about the corruption in that country, that we often forget that there are millions of excellent women, men, and children who are suffering and deserve better. She is one of the outstanding citizens of that country who we are proud to have in our foundation.
The help she brings to the Children Hospital is small, but very meaningful. The next step for the foundation is to fly to Colombia, visit the factories that make the antibiotics, negotiate and purchase. A different way to send the antibiotics is being arranged, but we will let you know how it progresses.
Report as of June 24, 2019
We are happy to report that Atty. Yvonne Sarmiento, our volunteer representative in Venezuela, is fine and safe back in Caracas!
This does not mean that the trip from Colombia by bus was easy, by any stretch of imagination.
Instead of taking 16 hours from Cucuta to Caracas it took 24 hours. 24 hours on a bus!
On the way from Cucuta to Caracas there were demonstrations protesting the lack of gasoline. Slowly passing through the demonstrations added hours to the trip. Then the bus broke down and had to be repaired.
Ms. Sarmiento was very happy to report that she could bring safely all the antibiotics she had purchased.
Tomorrow she will give us the list and pictures of the boxes. Our next step is to locate the factories of those antibiotics in Colombia, for which we have contacts on the ground in Colombia.
We will negotiate a favorable price with the factories, purchase a greater amount of antibiotics and send them to Caracas through shipping channels we recently identified.
We are so very grateful to Ms. Sarmiento! Her courageous efforts and unselfish dedication assure us in the hope that the good people of Venezuela will rise again and assume their proper place as a prosperous free nation.
Report as of June 28, 2019
Attorney Yvonne Sarmiento delivered the antibiotics to the Children Hospital in Caracas.
