Helping the women and families who need it the most!
It is no secret that Venezuela has been undergoing a severe economic and social crisis that is now coming to a head after years of difficult political polarization.
What does this mean for our small Foundation dedicated to family planning and women's empowerment, rural education and community development?
In a situation where medicines are scarce, contraceptives almost non-existent, and the public health system increasingly dysfunctional, we continue on our mission, doing everything we can to meet the demand for family planning and rural education, and to offer humanitarian assistance.
Our surgery program in collaboration with the private sector has more than doubled in size this year. We have performed over 500 surgical sterilizations (our most requested procedure) and over 100 hernia repairs, plus selective obstetric, pediatric, and oncological interventions for low income patients who can no longer depend on the pubic health system.
We have been able to do this through our strong relationships with so many doctors and nurses, and several private clinics. Everyone is pitching in, and we are responding with a broader service-delivery model reaching low-income, working and even lower middle-class families who have no other recourse in the current situation.
Here are some of the positive stories coming out of our work in Venezuela, all of which is thanks to your support!
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Mothers and daughters come together for family planning!
In families where women begin bearing children in their teens, mothers and daughters can find themselves raising young children of the same age. With reversible contraception currently scarce and extremely expensive, the demand for sterilization (which has always been the most popular form of contraception in Venezuela for women who have all the children they want) has skyrocketed, and many women travel from remote rural locations to have this effective laparoscopic procedure with us.
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Gleibys Galindo, pink pants, 40 years old with three children, and her daughter Girardine Correa, lying on bed, 20 years old with two children and reproductive health problems, came together from their rural community to have their surgical sterilizations. Gleibys had her first daughter Girardine when she was 20 years old and Girardine already has two children at 20 years old. On the left is Dr. Silvia Quijada, who coordinates our surgery program, and on the right are Betsaury and Johana (who graduated in nursing through our scholarship program), members of our rural staff who accompany their patients to the clinic for this important event in their lives. Surgery begins early, and Gleibys, quickly recuperating, is already up and dressed. Gerardine was operated later that morning, and in this photograph taken at mid-day, is still resting as the surgery session wraps up.
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Francis Cordova, right, 40 years old with two children, and her daughter Francis Riva, left, 25 years old with three children, came into the clinic from a small coastal fishing village to have their sterilizations together. Mother Francis had daughter Francis when she was 15 years old (not uncommon in remote rural areas), had reproductive health issues and used an IUD for many years, and eventually had the child shown here nursing. With two children, she chose to be sterilized and avoid future pregnancies at her age. Daughter Francis already has three children, the full family that she wants to have. Daughter Francis' children will be the nieces and nephews of Mother Francis' baby boy. In rural areas where adolescents still begin child-bearing at an early age, it is not unusual that nephews and nieces are older than their aunts and uncles!
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