Dr. Carolina Febres DDS and three other women physicians created a foundation in order to supply humanitarian aid to Venezuela regardless of the obstacles they may face.
Dr. Carolina Febres has dedicated the last three years to resolving the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela. When she is not working at her primary job as a pediatric dentist, she is collecting and preparing shipments of aid for Venezuela. Febres was kind enough to spare an hour to talk to me during the most demanding time for her foundation. February 23rdmarked the day in which interim president Guaidó planned to defy the Maduro regime by pushing tons of humanitarian aid through Colombia, Brazil, and Curacao with the help of his supporters. It’s the 23rdat 11:00 AM central time and Febres is speaking with me over speakerphone as she drives through the streets of Houston, Texas. I can hear the car engines swarming the streets, as well as drivers honking their horns from time to time. Before the interview begins, she takes a deep breath and introduces herself. “My name is Dr. Maria Carolina Febres, and I am one of the four founders of Cuatro Por Venezuela.” Dr. Maria Febres, who goes by her middle name, Carolina, speaks with such certainty and passion. Beneath her gentle voice lies a sense of urgency in every statement. While her gentle voice makes her out to be timid, her strong will and determination unveil as she begins to express her engagement and admiration for Venezuela. Behind her kindhearted demeanor is a story of understanding, strong desire, and community which make it clear why Venezuela’s fight is her fight as well. From Venezuela to the United States Born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela, Febres feels a personal connection to the crisis. “The crisis affects me directly,” Febres says, “I still have family over there, and I am still very close to the poverty and social needs the country has.” In 1990 Febres received her PhD in Dental Science (DDS) from the University of Central Venezuela, and in 1992 Febres married an oil engineer and moved to the United States, leaving her entire family behind. Shortly after moving to Texas, she completed her pediatric dentistry residency at the University of Texas, School of Dentistry and has been in practice for the past 22 years. Although she lives 3,000 miles away, she contacts her mother and siblings frequently. They talk about what is currently happening in Venezuela and Febres tries to keep morale high even during the darkest of days. Febres’s most recent visit to Venezuela was in 2015, shortly after the crisis began. While she tells me about her family, I can hear the frustration building up in her voice. The feelings of helplessness pierce through her calm demeanor, as she starts to talk faster and her thoughts begin to collide with one another. “While Venezuela was surely going through hard times the last time I was there, it was in no way as severe as it is today,” she continues, “there was still food and medicine at that time. Today people struggle to eat a single meal each day and people are dying from starvation or even a regular cold.” Being raised Catholic, Febres has always led a life of community service and has had an inherent desire to help those in need from a very young age. However, her community service didn’t end in Venezuela. Being a dentist and an activist, Febres takes time out of her busy schedule to go to local schools and children care centers to educate children on oral hygiene and dental health. Moreover, Febres goes to low-income community centers around Texas and donates dental hygiene products with information pamphlets to teach the community correct dental hygiene. She jumps back to her childhood stories. Her stories are vibrant, detailed, and filled with beautiful memories. I can hear the joy in her voice as she recalls the times when her family would bring food and donate blankets and clothing to the less fortunate. It gave her great satisfaction to make a difference growing up, and gives her even greater satisfaction knowing she is making a difference today. Febres is still one with her community, and is constantly working to better the lives of others. These memories and vast desires are what push Febres as well as her colleagues to fight for those who have no voice. After reminiscing on her childhood, she remained silent, as if she was thinking of what to say next. She then concluded with pride: “We are Venezuela.” Cuatro Por Venezuela: A little foundation aiming to help many Carolina Febres, Gloria Mattiuzzi, Gabriela Rondón and Maria Elena Texeira, decided to take their careers in the medical field one step further by opening the non-profit organization Cuatro Por Venezuela in 2016. These four women have taken it into their own hands to supply medical aid as well as food and school supplies to the people of Venezuela. Through working with Domingo Tepuy, an organization formed by doctors in different regions of Venezuela, Febres and her partners receive information from the doctors within the organization, and buy supplies accordingly. “They send us the list, we buy the supplies, and they distribute it” says Febres. With more than 130 hospitals and institutions assisted in over 14 regions of Venezuela, Cuatro Por Venezuela has been able to supply thousands of impoverished Venezuelans. The question is how? With Maduro’s “narco dictator regime” still holding immense power over Venezuela’s imports and exports, it has been impossible for neighboring countries as well as the US to transport humanitarian aid to Venezuela. Even though Maduro has blocked off nearly every border, Guaidó and his followers have continued to fight back. Unfortunately, on February 23rdtheir efforts were not rewarded. Maduro’s military flooded the Colombian border, and the efforts of the opposition group were met with tear gas and violence. An event which originally sparked hope created immense chaos and ultimately, the destruction of two trucks filled with aid. However, these obstacles did not stop Cuatro Por Venezuela. While this day may seem like a failure for the opposition party, it successfully demonstrated the brutality of Maduro’s regime to the public eye. I then proceeded to ask Febres how the foundation gets around the endless military men blocking the borders of Venezuela. Febres scoffed: “We smuggle the shipments [into Venezuela], and bribe whoever comes between our deliveries and the distributors.” Cuatro Por Venezuela has a team of workers awaiting each shipment to arrive. This team is connected with several of the soldiers who surround the border. These soldiers are prepared for the shipments to come on certain days and are paid a sum of money each time they allow the deliveries through. Without going into much detail on the logistics of who specifically allows the shipments through and who her team is in Venezuela, she sounded quite certain that the deliveries remain “under the radar.” Being that this is the sole way that aid can make its way into Venezuela, the amount that can be transported each trip is limited. Sending small shipments weekly guarantees that no one is in danger and that the shipments successfully make it to the distributors. If caught transporting these supplies, there could be many serious consequences, one being that the organization is put on Maduro’s watch list. The Power of Solidarity Through Cuatro Por Venezuela, Febres pursues her tremendous desire to help the less fortunate, with the support of many other groups. Partnering with groups and organizations both inside and outside of Venezuela, Febres and her colleagues join Venezuela’s fight against hunger and malnutrition. With the support of their partners, Cuatro Por Venezuela provides resources to areas where the need is greatest. “If we operate as one, we can make a difference.” As reported on the foundations webpage, Cuatro Por Venezuela works with an array of corporations, organizations and individuals around the US, to combat the widespread shortages and other health issues that have resulted from the humanitarian crisis. They work together to collect a variety of supplies, and to offer their support to form solidarity. By partnering and working together with these programs, they have helped many. In 2018 alone, with this support, Cuatro Por Venezuela was able to collect and send 17,350 pounds of medicine, 41,804 pounds of food, 3,155 pounds of baby formula, and 1,537 pounds of school supplies to Venezuela. Sending over 60,000 pounds of life-saving supplies, Cuatro Por Venezuela has quadrupled their impact from 2017 (Cuatro Por Venezuela webpage). “We owe it to the donors, and the volunteers […] without them this would not have been possible,” Febres says. According to Cuatro Por Venezuela’s webpage, the foundation also partners with local organizations in Venezuela such as Codevida, Caritas Venezuela, and over 100 others to deliver and distribute the donations collected in the US. With the help of these local partners, approximately 39,500 patients have been helped, 120,000 meals and 4,000 baby bottles have been distributed, and 200 children have received school supplies in 2018. “We are proud of what we have accomplished to-date, and the foundation is only getting bigger.” Since 2016, Cuatro Por Venezuela has seen an increase in donations and overall support worldwide. The foundation seeks to create unity amongst both global and local organizations, in hopes that such solidarity can mirror that of Guaidó and his supporters. Febres Takes a Stance: Keep on Pushing When Febres’s drive and consequently our interview were coming to an end, I asked her what she thought was the root of both the humanitarian and political crisis in Venezuela. She let out a great sigh: “We can be here all morning if we want to go through all the problems that have led to the crisis […] but one major issue right now is that Maduro still believes he holds power […] and he’s not wrong,” Febres whispered under her breath. Guaidó and Maduro have been fighting over control of this disheveled country for over a month, yet neither seems to have an upper hand. While Guaidó has the support of over 60 countries and the majority of Venezuela, Maduro has the support of the military as well as many government institutions. This poses many issues for the opposition party, one being that Maduro doesn’t feel the need nor the desire to step down. Another major issue, Febres explains, is the inflation rate. Febres says the 100 Bolívares note (Venezuela’s highest currency) isn’t even worth 25 US cents. She gives examples of how inflation has caused food prices to sky rocket, the black market to become the main (if not only) source of food and daily necessities, and Bolívares to be worth less than the paper used to fabricate it. However, being the activist that she is, Febres quickly shifts my question to a more positive one: what needs to change? Febres believes that the only way Venezuela will see any change is if the “narco socialism regime is forced out of Venezuela, and democracy and free election take its place.” Febres, as well as many other Venezuelans agree that Maduro will not step down on his own; however, they don’t think that US involvement is the answer either. “Living in Venezuela for many years, I don’t think the US getting involved will benefit Venezuela right now,” says Febres, but this is what motivates her to keep pushing. Seeing the benefits of democracy in the US since her arrival in 1992, Febres says she has known that Venezuela would one day turn to democracy, but she never thought it would be because of a crisis like this one. Nonetheless, she is hopeful that democracy is the next step for Venezuela, despite the hardship they’ve gone through to get to that conclusion. When days like February 23rdcause overwhelming feelings of hopelessness and desperation amongst the people of Venezuela, the hardship they face simultaneously pushes Febres and her foundation to work harder for the people. What many don’t realize is that Febres finds peace in knowing that when times are tough, her continuous efforts to deliver humanitarian aid to those in need makes these times more bearable. With change in Venezuela being a common topic of discussion amongst the foundation and her family, Febres expresses to her peers that “this is all going to take a lot of time. A lot of time to get used to democracy and a lot of time to decide how to get Maduro to step down. So, until then we must work together to help how we can.” Febres portrays her loyalty and support for Venezuela by constantly staying patient and positive. Pursuing her goal to deliver resources and save the lives of as many people as she can, is what is urgent. Helping children, the elderly, and the sick is all that is time pressing for Febres. She takes a stance by persevering through the face of adversity and delivering humanitarian aid each day, in hopes that one day she will be able to give help to everyone in need. Febres is a part of the change she wishes to see in the world. Before she ends the interview, Febres picks up her phone, turns off speakerphone, and says, “Thank you for making our voices heard. You too are making a difference,” and repeats once again, with pride, “We are Venezuela.”
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