Over the past couple of months, the world has constantly shown humans that it really can be a terrible and scary place. I feel like every day I turn on the TV or log onto social media to learn about yet another terrorist attack or tragedy in the world. I hate to think that people are turning to violence to express their beliefs.

Throughout all of these tragedies that happen in my home country, I cannot help but think about my other country. The country that suffers these tragedies on a daily basis. The country that is barely surviving. The country that cannot go a day without seeing the death of hundreds of it’s people.

Venezuela is a country that is barely hanging on. Each day the situation worsens, as more and more people start to suffer from the high inflation, food scarcity and increasing crime. The political problems are not improving and the people are still fighting back (as they have been for almost two decades now) with absolutely no avail.

But nothing changes. And no one seems to notice. No one notices that Venezuelan people cannot find basic necessities in their local grocery stores. No one notices that this country has the highest crime rate. No one seems to notice that people are starving… and dying because of it. No country does anything about it. Not even make their own people aware. When you ask the random person on the street what they know about Venezuela, they will not even have a clue that people are starving, being kidnapped, or even being murdered on the daily.

I understand that the tragedies will make the news. But this tragedy never does. Never do I turn on the news channel and see anything about Venezuela. It’s like the rest of the world either has no idea what is happening, or they have just given up. And that is sad to me. Venezuela is a country that had so much potential and should be thriving, but the political situation and socialistic government has completely shattered any hope in the people. And said socialistic government that is supposedly “for the people,” does absolutely nothing to help said people. You know it is a hot mess when Venezuelans are crossing the border into Colombia in order to go to the grocery stores and pharmacies. Because if they don’t do that, their only option is to stop the trucks transferring live chickens in the middle of the road to steal them. Don’t believe me? It’s actually a thing.

I wish more people were aware of this situation. And although the tragedies that happen here in the US are absolutely awful… they are happening every single day in Venezuela, and sometimes even worse. People, especially children, that could be treated for cancer are dying in hospitals every day because there is no medicine anywhere in the country. People are scared to walk across the street in broad daylight because they might be robbed… or even kidnapped. The thought of going anywhere at night does not cross the mind of anyone. No one feels safe anywhere, not even in their own homes.

Every day I pray for the safety of my family and all Venezuelans. I pray that one day they won’t be scared to drive across the street. I pray that someone starts to do something about the situation. I pray that they find food and medicine. And most importantly, I pray that Venezuela will never lose hope.

#PrayForVenezuela #VivaVenezuela