8 May 2018
The normal, frantic pace of our area office has increased recently with a new priority: helping with the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela.
Currently, over 1 million Venezuelans have left the country due to the political turmoil. A third of those refugees have arrived in Peru and are doing well. However, food shortages in Venezuela are causing people to go hungry. Rampant inflation has caused their currency to become worthless. And to top it all, the Venezuelan government will not allow any humanitarian aid to enter the country – doing so would admit that there is a problem.
The lucky Venezuelans are the one who have escaped.
For the Venezuelans left inside Venezuela, we are now assisting with a way to help several thousand of our members survive this ordeal. This massive project involves setting up home businesses to help families support themselves. Members who are interested complete a series of self-sufficiency courses, and, once completed, they can request assistance in obtaining supplies to setup their own businesses.
We and a dozen others in our office are now working full-time as we process 1,700 requests for assistance. These requests were based not only on member requests, but also on a review by their local church leaders. Items being requested for home businesses include: auto repair tools, sewing machines, kitchen and bakery items. items for laptop and computer repair, hair cutting and beauty shop supplies, etc. We review and process the requests, then create requisitions, which turn into orders for the goods.
Recipients of the aid agree that these supplies remain property of the church, and they have a year to make the business profitable. They also agree to return the items if they move or if the business isn’t successful after a year (so other members can then use those items).
Given the quantity of items we have to order, we think we may be working on this project for the next few months until our mission ends.
We pray that all this effort bears fruit and helps these Venezuelan families survive the days ahead.
We have been taking long walks around Lima lately on our days off (Saturdays and occasional holidays) – 60 miles in April and 26 miles so far in May. We decided we wanted to toughen up for any post-mission treks we might want to take. So far, we have done well except for some expected sore muscles and heat-related issues.
An app on my cell phone tracks on a map where we have traveled, the distance, calories burned, and total time. Here is a map of the walk from our home to the ocean last week.
Walk to the Ocean (13 miles)
We left our apartment at 10 a.m. and reached the coast 3 hours later, had some much-needed lunch, then kept walking until our legs told us we were done. We caught a cab to get home.
The normal, frantic pace of our area office has increased recently with a new priority: helping with the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela.
Crisis in Venezuela
Currently, over 1 million Venezuelans have left the country due to the political turmoil. A third of those refugees have arrived in Peru and are doing well. However, food shortages in Venezuela are causing people to go hungry. Rampant inflation has caused their currency to become worthless. And to top it all, the Venezuelan government will not allow any humanitarian aid to enter the country – doing so would admit that there is a problem.
The lucky Venezuelans are the one who have escaped.
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| Venezuela is ready to fall off the globe. The lucky ones are the refugees who have already made it out of the country. |
For the Venezuelans left inside Venezuela, we are now assisting with a way to help several thousand of our members survive this ordeal. This massive project involves setting up home businesses to help families support themselves. Members who are interested complete a series of self-sufficiency courses, and, once completed, they can request assistance in obtaining supplies to setup their own businesses.
We and a dozen others in our office are now working full-time as we process 1,700 requests for assistance. These requests were based not only on member requests, but also on a review by their local church leaders. Items being requested for home businesses include: auto repair tools, sewing machines, kitchen and bakery items. items for laptop and computer repair, hair cutting and beauty shop supplies, etc. We review and process the requests, then create requisitions, which turn into orders for the goods.
Recipients of the aid agree that these supplies remain property of the church, and they have a year to make the business profitable. They also agree to return the items if they move or if the business isn’t successful after a year (so other members can then use those items).
Given the quantity of items we have to order, we think we may be working on this project for the next few months until our mission ends.
We pray that all this effort bears fruit and helps these Venezuelan families survive the days ahead.
Long Walks – Around Lima
We have been taking long walks around Lima lately on our days off (Saturdays and occasional holidays) – 60 miles in April and 26 miles so far in May. We decided we wanted to toughen up for any post-mission treks we might want to take. So far, we have done well except for some expected sore muscles and heat-related issues.
An app on my cell phone tracks on a map where we have traveled, the distance, calories burned, and total time. Here is a map of the walk from our home to the ocean last week.
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| Map of our walk to the ocean - only 11 miles from our home, then another two miles beyond. |
Walk to the Ocean (13 miles)
We left our apartment at 10 a.m. and reached the coast 3 hours later, had some much-needed lunch, then kept walking until our legs told us we were done. We caught a cab to get home.
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| One of the best parts of the walk was walking through groves of Eucalyptus trees planted in the suburb of San Borja. |
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| Larcomar Mall on the Pacific Ocean - a good place to relax and rest our tired feet. |
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| View from Larcomar Mall in Miraflores. We made it to the Pacific Ocean walking across Lima from our apartment. |
Walk to the Mountains (12 miles)
The city has planted cactus and other plants in a mountain park 6 miles from our apartment. The 12-mile round trip, up and back, was a hot and sweaty hike that left us a little sore for a few days.
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| Finally, we made it to the cactus forest in the mountains. |
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| Cactus forest planted in the mountains near Lima. This terrain is so dry that not even the cactus can survive without drip irrigation. |
Walk to Central Lima (13 miles)
This past Saturday we decided to walk to the historic downtown of Lima. We made it most of the way without stopping until we ran out of gas at 11 miles and got some lunch to keep going.
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| Reaching our goal of walking into the center of Lima with its historic Spanish cathedral. |
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| Lima City Hall - this place feels more Spanish than many places in Spain. |
So the week draws to a close and we fly out this coming week to the jungle city of Iquitos for a vision project where we have made donations of vision surgical equipment. We will join Dr. John Lewis and his wife, and Dr. Lewis will train doctors at the regional hospital in techniques for performing glaucoma surgery. This may be our last trip to Iquitos during our mission, so these days of travel to the jungle may be coming to an end.
Way to go setting goals to walk so far! When you get home will you replace biking with walking everywhere instead? Any reports how the Venezuelans who have recieved supplies have improved their situations? -Chels
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