Bring Urgent Medical Care to La Guaira

On June 24, two earthquakes took homes and loved ones from families across La Guaira. The next day, our volunteer medical students and specialists were there, and we were able to provide 642 consultations and emergency care free of charge. In these beyond difficult times, bringing quality care to those affected is our main priority.

By July 6, after nine days of clinics, we had provided over 1,000 consultations. As of October, those totals stand at 10,287 consultations, with a total of 7,036 medications delivered.

Each of those consultations was a person sitting in front of one of us, ranging from infants to the elderly. They came with wounds and sprains, and with hypertension, diabetes and asthma, conditions that do not pause for a disaster. Some asked for a psychologist or a psychiatrist, carrying what they had seen and lost. Many of us are still students, and these are patients we will carry with us for the rest of our careers.

Many people could not reach us, so we went to them. On June 29 and 30, we visited five rescue outposts and three shelters housing families with nowhere else to go, reaching an estimated 676 people with donations and humanitarian support. As of August, we delivered 2,415 kits of medicine, food, water and medical supplies to shelters in La Guaira. We also administered 115 tetanus vaccines to rescue teams and victims who needed them.

To all of our donors, thank you. In some of the hardest weeks many of us have ever known, it meant more than we can say to know that we were not doing this alone. All monetary donations are used to buy medical supplies, medications, logistics supplies such as canopy tents and transportation for our team, and we document each purchase with a receipt.

The headlines have faded, but the earthquakes are not over for the families of La Guaira.

Our next goal is to equip our clinic with medical supplies including portable imaging equipment, so that people here can find care close to home, today and in whatever crisis comes next.

With gratitude,

Fundación Vive Más team