Venezuela After the Earthquake: What's Really Happening and How You Can Help with Lori Adams-Brown

Speaker A: Hello, difference makers. You are listening to A World of Difference. This is a podcast for the people who still believe that how we lead matters, that the conversations we have across difference, across cultures, across the distance between where we are and where the world needs to go, can actually change things. I am Lori Adams Brown, and for over five years, I have been bringing global leaders who are authors and change makers to one table. 155,000 downloads, 800 countries, a top 3% podcast, and one conviction that has not changed. The right conversation at the right time, with the right people shifts everything. If you are here, you are already a difference maker. And if you want to go deeper, the difference makers community is waiting for you@patreon.com Awarlo Difference, $7 a month, price of a latte, bonus conversations, voting power, and a seat at the table where this conversation continues. The link is in the show notes. And welcome to this week's episode. I hope it inspires you.

Speaker B: Welcome to the A World of Difference podcast. I'm Lori Adams Brown, and this is a podcast for those who are different and want to make a difference. Many of you are aware of what, what happened six days ago in Venezuela, and I wanted to come to you today live here on Substack to just talk a little bit about what is going on. I'm sure you're following it in the news, and many of you are Venezuelans inside Venezuela, Venezuelans in the diaspora abroad, or like me, grew up there as an expat kid and have many people that you care about that you're worried about and trying to keep up with the many things that are very traumatizing, both in the situation and from abroad. And I wanted to come together today to talk about how we can together make a difference for Venezuelans and to give a little update for those of you who are sort of, uh, wondering really what's going on. Maybe you're new to the situation and you don't know much, or maybe you're really heavily involved. Either way, I want us to have a conversation together today and would be happy to take any questions at the end if you have any. I know I'm here at, uh, the San Francisco Bay Area in Silicon Valley on a lunch break, and many of you are on a lunch break right now. I just wanted to take this as an opportunity to talk about some things that are going on where I think we can really come together and make a difference for Venezuelans everywhere. I really want to talk to you more openly today because this is close to home for me. Literally, as many of you know, I grew up in Valencia, Venezuela, in an international school. Um, the Caribbean was my, you know, backyard. And then six days ago, on Wednesday, June 24, twin earthquakes hit Venezuela. And they were one minute apart. So there was a 7.2 on the Richter scale and then the 7.5, which was the more damaging main shock of the earthquakes. And it's the strongest the country has felt in 120 years. The most recent, most damaging earthquake in the history had been in 1900. The damage really centered largely around La Guayra and Caracas. And as of today, the death toll is well over 1700 people counting. There's thousands that are still missing. Many are affected, excuse me, in terms of displacement and um, you know, in need of medical care. All the things you could imagine in a disaster m of this magnitude. Thousands are still missing. Um, this is not an abstract disaster for me. This is the coastline I grew up on. I grew up, and many of you have heard me talk about my happy places. Playa Lita, which is in Morrocoy National Park. And you get there from Valencia, where I grew up, by just driving down the mountain road into the coast area, which is called Tucacas. And that area was very badly hit, but hasn't received as much aid as the area of La Guaira near Caracas. But hotels, we saw videos of them just collapsing, being pancaked in an instant. Even the neighborhood I grew up in in Valencia, I was watching Emesen now after the earthquake happened, and there was a building in Nagua, Nagua that fell, completely collapsed. Um, that's the area where I grew up going to church and still have friends there. I've been in contact with them over WhatsApp and they've sent me WhatsApp, uh, voicemail messages and pictures and videos of the church where I grew up in. And they're doing efforts there and collecting items, both preparing for some of the migration that will be coming to Valencia, which was a less hard hit area, although it was hit. And in fact that building is where my sister in law used to teach. Fortunately it had been abandoned for a while, so I don't think anybody was hurt in that particular building. But there are many buildings, as you've seen on the news, that have collapsed and people are trapped underneath. And the rescue efforts are largely being done by people from outside the country that have come in or by local Venezuelans who are going in and rescuing their own family members without a lot of proper training or equipment. But just out of desperation to find their Loved ones, which I can understand, and I would do the same. And um, there's a lot of complicated things on, so we're going to try to cover them. But you know, it's not the first time I've stood on the edge of this kind of devastation. So many of you know, that I've written about here on um, Substack and talked about quite a bit my experience in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, which the epicenter hit in the area where I had been working prior to that. And during that time I worked alongside the ISN Social Creasi in Indonesia, which is a, ah, grassroots nonprofit that I was in the early co founders of. But also I coordinated um, 121 infrastructure projects across UN agencies. Coordination, well, I would say in coordination with the UN agency, UN OCHA efforts. So we didn't do any projects that were going to be doubling up or redundant from some what someone else was doing. We really focused on finding an area that was underserved that we could come in. And I brought in experts from everything from somebody who knew how to desalinate the rice fields, to how to rebuild and retrofit homes in a way that was going to be earthquake resistant, to harvesting rainwater, to, for drinking water, experts in all kinds of things like desalinating the wells and everything. So those projects came out of. Early on I became. Well, I sort of created a role for myself because that's what happens in these disasters. You step up when there's some, a need and there's nothing being done. And so I became a liaison with the UN OCHA efforts and have a lot of respect for the work that the UN does in these kinds of disasters, because they've done this before, even if the nuance may be slightly different. Um, they understand what it takes and the core coordination is really key. Everything from how many antibiotics, trucks are coming up. If all the trucks being brought in to the disaster zone all have antibiotics and there's no tents for people to sleep in, um, that's a problem. And so the coordination is really key in these very dangerous, rapidly changing, chaotic environments. Um, I also know the first days and weeks of a catastrophe like this firsthand. And I know what they look like and I know how fast, um, the world's attention moves on to the next thing and how long rebuilding actually lasts because I stayed for five years to help rebuild. But today I want to do two things. I want to tell you what's actually happening in Venezuela right now and then, um, because some of it is underreported and then I want to give you a clear, vetted way that you can actually help what's happening. Because I know many of you are here because you want to make a difference. Uh, excuse me. And that's, you know, the nature of the podcast, right? A world of difference. How we can make a difference together with our skills, our talents, our experience, coming together with our perspectives around the table to make a difference together. And a lot of that understanding was born for me out of the UN OCHA days of me sitting alongside high level government officials in militaries from Australia to Singapore to the US and also the leaders, uh, in that movement, from the International Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, Medicine, Sal Frontier, and you know, Save the Children, all of the ones that, you know, are still the big players today. And also representing a very small grassroots organization that had local channels and understanding of local culture that some of the bigger ones didn't. And there's really a role for both. And I think the importance of both being at the table together cannot be understated. I really saw the beauty of that in the work that I did. So, uh, yeah, let's look at what's happened in Venezuela. Two earthquakes, like I mentioned, uh, 39 seconds apart last Wednesday on June 24th, the 7.2, 7.5 magnitude and it centered, the epicenter was in Moron, which is in. Well, Moron isn't area closer to the ocean. Um, I grew up in Karabobo state. This all happened really to the west portion of that Yarajuy was where the main epicenter happened originally. And then, you know, the worst damage that we're seeing, kind of, if you see some of the earthquake simulations on the map, it sort of went along east along the coast of the Caribbean there, which hit then to the east, La Guaira and Caracas, Hundreds of buildings collapsed. There's a lot of conversation around that, which is over the last 27 years of Chavez, Maduro and now Delsey Rodriguez, who's the interim president, not elected in the most current elections, which is part of the reason, you know, Maduro was captured in January and is incarcerated here in the United States. Um, but the current president is not. And neither was Maduro m most recently elected by the people. So the current people in this regime aren't even the elected officials. And they sit at the very hopefully end of a history of a regime. And I'm saying end because we're all hoping this will be over soon. Because this regime has built not only buildings that cut corners and didn't weren't up to code of their own Venezuelan laws. Building with sand near the beach that was not stable. And there was another very terrible disaster in same area near Caracas in 1999 that was a, uh, ended up being a mudslide and killed many, many people. And then the rebuilding of that was rebuilt with buildings that weren't up to code. That way when you see the earthquake happen, they just collapse in an instant. So people are still trapped, thousands under this rubble, some we hope, still alive. After 72 hours, they're still finding people because the warm Caribbean ocean means there's not cold weather at night. So people aren't dying from hypothermia necessarily. But at this point it's about not getting access to water and also maybe having limbs or parts of their body that are trapped. And I don't want to get too into that because it's very traumatizing. But there's just a, there's, you know, we're down to hours left if finding any survivors is still very difficult to imagine at this point, but it's still happening. But thousands are more injured. Tens of thousands are missing or unaccounted for. UNICEF estimates that 650,000 people need assistance, and that includes 234,000 children. Um, over 400 schools were damaged in the capital district alone in Caracas area. But, um, so what we see in these disasters and what I experienced in Indonesia is you want to also protect the children because there are unfortunately human traffickers that take advantage of these situations. And so children not being accounted for and having lost their parents are very vulnerable. And UNICEF does a great work trying to protect the children and Save the Children does as well. So those are a couple of different organizations that I do highly recommend that are vetted. You can look on Charity Navigator to find out more or look at their financials, which should be transparent. And please don't donate to any organization that not transparent about their finances. Um, but yes, the children are especially vulnerable in these situations. Uh, what struck Wednesday was the earthquakes hit an area that was already, uh, you know, in crisis. As, as we were mentioning. Nearly 8 million Venezuelans have fled the country. There were many in the country that are still experiencing abject poverty and lack of resources, medical care and all kinds of things. Infrastructure that has been deteriorating over a period, you know, 27 year period with a regime that has been corrupt and greedy and stealing from their own people. Including what we're seeing right now with some documented videos. And I'll get into that in a second about what that's looking like on the ground. You know, this is the part I want to handle carefully because, you know, it's true and it matters. But I also want to be precise. You know, Venezuela is currently being led by, as I mentioned, Acting President Del C. Rodriguez. Nicolas Maduro is no longer in power. He was removed in January, um, in a U.S. operation. And so when people say the regime right now, what that means is, uh, the same governing structure under Delse Rodriguez right now and alongside, um, the Interior Minister whose name is Diosdado Cabello. I mean, he's a man that's wanted in the US under narco terrorism charges, a $25 million bounty on his head, and he's been controlling access to the disaster zone. Some of you have seen a viral video. This is documented, not rumored. He has a long history of very terrible crimes against humanity, against his own people, against Venezuelans themselves. And he's been in a position of power for quite a while. There's a viral video with Cabello arguing, uh, and blocking a US Rescue team member from reaching survivors in La Guaira. You can google that and just Diosdado or Diosdado, Cabello. And you'll see probably that video pop up along side. This is. That access along a single highway in La Guaira has been a real bottleneck. So this is a road I grew up on many times. Um, if you're going from Mikatia Airport in Caracas, which was badly damaged and isn't really back up to functioning, you can see videos of that also crumbling during the earthquake. But if you land in Caracas, Maquetia Airport and you're getting to Caracas, or even we would go to Valencia from there, um, you go up this mountain road. It's like one access road to get to La Guay. And that has been blocked also. And because of efforts to the chaos of the situation, and it's delayed aid from multiple countries, not just the U.S. uh, also Maria Corina Machado, who many of you will remember received the Nobel Peace Prize this year or last year, I guess, Venezuela's most prominent opposition leader. And she has been in exile from the country she was currently trying to fly in today from Panama to get back to Venezuela, where she's not been able to return because the regime has made threats to her life. And she's been trying to get back home to Venezuela to rejoin the effort. But the government, the Venezuelan government, this regime closed all the airspace in order to keep her from landing. What does that mean? It means that other rescue workers from other countries were also not able to get in. And I just want to sit with that for a second because imagine being such a powerful threat to a regime, uh, that is trying to show how powerful they are and yet are so threatened by one woman landing that they shut down the entire airspace for their country. In one of the worst disasters we've seen, where thousands are still missing, trapped under rubble, in need of rescue, people are sleeping out in the streets, and the government has largely not been involved at all in helping with the relief efforts, in fact only really stopping them and thwarting them. So I want to be fair here. You know, some of the access problems are genuine chaos. We see this in any. We saw it in the tsunami in Indonesia. And also there were issues along with the government not allowing people to come in for various reasons when I was there. But this is also. There's some differences, right? You know, a country with a crumbling infrastructure, one road in and out in the hardest hit area, equipment breaking down, you know, not enough specialized rescue workers. You know, that's real. And so I want to be fair there. But also some of what's happening looks like the government is more concerned with really controlling the narrative and the politics and holding onto power. The greed, the corruption that's been there rampant for a long time where they've been stealing from their own people, torturing them, cutting corners with building buildings that were not up to code of their own law such. And so, you know, the politics is also important to recognize in addition to, you know, getting people out of the rubble and what that can take on a chaotic situation. Both of those things appear to be true at the same time. And what do I. What I just keep coming back to myself is this. When I was doing relief work in Indonesia, the thing that, uh, determined whether aid reached people was never really about how much money showed up. It was whether people controlling the ground let it through. You know, because in Indonesia, I was. Had been working in this area in Aceh province, which had a civil war, one of the longest running civil wars in the world. And, you know, the Dutch had never fully colonized the Acehnese, the Aceh province, when they colonized Indonesia. And then when Indonesia got its independence, they really were at war with the Acehnese people who were wanting their own freedom. So when the tsunami hit this area, it was a post dictatorship, uh, you know, Suharto had been ousted in 99 and Amnesty International had uncovered mass graves there. The Indonesian military had been torturing their own people. And then even foreigners were not allowed even the UN wasn't allowed in for the first three days of the relief effort because the government had locked down Aceh province from foreigners going in in order to control the narrative and not have any stories get out about. Well, really the time that shut down was when a German tourist had been shot and killed by the Indonesian military in a tent, sleeping, just camping on a beach, and without sight unseen, they just shot and killed him, assuming he was AES. So the government had closed down the province for all foreigners because they didn't want any media getting out about what they were doing and the, The m. You know, unethical ways they were approaching their power with the Acehnese people. And so when the tsunami hit, the last thing they wanted was foreigners coming in there and discovering how things had been going. And, um, so eventually the pressure had to lift and the UN and other foreigners, you know, my husband was actually one of the first foreigners to get into the area once the, um, permits were granted to go back in. And so not exactly the same, but a similar situation where people are trying to keep that under wraps and not let, um, foreigners in to do the work that needs to be done to like, really rescue people. And, and so I'm familiar with how these geopolitical situations can evolve. And yet I also know how important it is to have big organizations like the un, un, ocha, you know, International Red Cross, unicef, Save the Children. These big players really make a difference. But also the grassroots parts are the very on the ground, you know, reflecting local culture. And really, I think they need to partner hand in hand to not only allow efforts to happen to rescue people and provide people their basic human needs, but also for the rebuilding and hopefully for the kind of change that needs to happen. One of the things that resulted in Indonesia was six months after the tsunami, there was a peace agreement signed in Switzerland, and that none of us believe that would have happened without the world showing up and helping for those six months to see really what was happening on the ground, including the fact that the Indonesian military at the time was not doing what they should have been doing early on to rescue people. In fact, there were many instances of stealing jewelry off of, you know, the bodies of victims of the tsunami. And we're seeing some similar things happen in Venezuela with the, with the military. They're not really doing the rescue efforts as the government should to protect their people, but instead continuing to rob the people, which is just its own kind of nefarious. And I'm saying it in a very unemotional way, but I feel Actually very strongly about this and have a lot of strong feelings about the injustice of that and why it's important for people to go in and both help rescue people, but also help with their infrastructure and rebuilding and not coddling a government that's not legitimate, um, isn't really elected and has been torturing its own people. And at this point the world is finally seeing, I think in some ways with Giustado Cabello in that video and more what's going on. You know, there's been also the government is asking, has been having, uh, people line up in these long lines to get permits to pay the government for a permit to go rescue their own loved ones. Wasting time, wasting precious minutes and hours to find their loved ones, but also asking people who've suffered and many of whom are living in extreme abject poverty, to pay the government to allow them to rescue their own people. This is the kind of situation that's happening there. Um, and you know, it was. When I compare Indonesia and Venezuela, what I'm noticing is once again, it's not about always the amount of money that's there, it's about who you're supporting and, um, the ways that they're working and the ways that they're using the efforts to influence and find ways to work for the outcome that is a long term outcome for the people of the area as well. And I think the thing to watch in Venezuela, particularly right now, is that, you know, you should make your decisions on who to give directly to to the organizations that are on the ground and are trusted. Once again, go to Charity Navigator and look at their financials. And then instead of waiting on any government to do what is needed, governments work very differently. So I'm going to talk about where to give, where places are that I recommend. I'm going to give you organizations that are vetted and that are verified and are active and on the ground right now. And I want you to either write these down or take notes or I have some listed in my link tree. If you go to my Instagram bio, my link tree is listed there and I did post about it the other day. But you know, check them out for yourself. Look at their social media, what they're posting of their people on the ground that are working. UN ocha, like I mentioned, um, it's the Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. They are the one that goes in and coordinates these disasters. So in the meetings that they hold, like I was in in Indonesia, the representatives of all these other big organizations will be there coordinating who's doing antibiotics, who's doing tents, who's doing food, who's doing water, who's doing medical kit. So that all of it is happening in coordination and that people aren't going rogue, off on their own thing and then doubling up on efforts. Time is of the essence in these situations. Lives are at stake, and every day, every minute matters. Um, it's a rapidly changing environment with a lot of chaos, and coordination is really key for this. So that's the Unocha that I really recommend them to donate to. Also the Red Cross, so International Federation of the Red Cross, the Venezuelan Red Cross, both of those. Look at what they're posting, look at they're doing on the ground. Their financials are transparent and they're one of the big players. There's various versions of the Red Cross around the world. And I also worked with many Red Crescent countries from, like, Turkey and different Muslim, uh, nations back in the Indonesian tsunami. But all of those organizations are connected to one another. They are operational in Venezuela, nationwide, despite, you know, damage to the headquarters that they experienced with the earthquake. Unicef, as I mentioned, they've already deployed medical supplies, uh, water, sanitation support, and child protective services. So go check out UNICEF and the work that they're doing to protect children, which are very vulnerable, especially if they've lost both of their parents in a situation where human trafficking is on the ground. And sometimes they'll end up taking kids to maybe one of the hospitals nearby, the ones that are functioning and aren't overly full, and then something happens to them and they can't find them. So they're very vulnerable, especially if they're out sleeping on the street, like many are right now, because they don't have houses or they're afraid to go back into their buildings, understandably with aftershocks. And no one really trusts the buildings at this point. Right. And I, I wouldn't either. There's a lot of visceral response that happens in trauma where, you know, for Indonesians after the tsunami, many of them had trouble bathing or being around water. Because your body remembers, even if cognitively you're starting to move on, your body can be in the past. And that's why some of the work I did in the tsunami was just sitting and listening to people's stories, understanding that their bodies are having reactions and that the body work was really important. And, you know, that's why sounds, loud noises will often trigger people because earthquakes can have loud noises, and the tsunami certainly did. But when people experience that noise again, their body will start to react With a, uh, anxiety or panic, various trauma responses, fight, flight, freeze, you know, fawn flop, all the different ones. And um, and so one of the ways that I was able to help after the tsunami was sitting and listening to children and translating for a world renowned trauma therapist, an expert in children who had worked the Columbine cases and had worked in Beslan, Russia, after a group had shot up a school there. Um, and he came in and I translated for him, just listening to the children and their stories, ones that had survived. And he taught me a lot about how children process it differently than adults. Their attention span isn't as long, so they may only have five minutes of a solid, really being able to focus on the conversation. We did a lot of art therapy or just had things for them to kind of go back and forth and not stay in a long conversation. Whereas adults might talk just for 30, 45 minutes straight. Children tend to go, need little breaks more quickly. And you know, some people I remember in the tsunami that were doing some work would say, oh, these children are so resilient. And that never sat well with me because I feel like maybe it was a misunderstanding that actually children are very vulnerable. And what may look like resilience to, uh, us. Look at them, they're playing, they're fine. Is actually their way of, I can't cope with this right now. I need to do something that helps my brain process that differently. And art therapy can be a really incredible way because the right brain processes trauma very differently than the left brain. And drawing something or doing something more artistic, musical or other types of right brain activities can actually be a way of processing it. That's an indirect route, but actually is a much more healing route for them. And so what looks like resilience often is only them trying to just still process in their own way. Um, so they very much need help, the children especially. And the healing process needs to be more tailored for them. So look for organizations that understand that and that are trauma informed for them and that really understand the difference of how children process that. Those are ones I recommend, you know. Medecine Sans Frontier the Doctors Without Borders had already been on the ground in Venezuela, but they launched, uh, a disaster fund for the response. You can go to doctors without borders.org World Central Kitchen is a Jose Andres organization. They're on the ground, they're providing meals, hot meals in the disaster zones. Saw yesterday we're handing out cachitos, which is a warm snack from panadarias that I used to get after sports at school. Or whatever after soccer games with my friends. And it's just a very hot quick meal that people can take and eat while they're still doing the disaster rescue efforts of looking for their family and friends and neighbors. So World Central Kitchen highly recommend them. WCK.org you can go there. And the uh, IRC is International Rescue Committee. They were already working in Venezuela since 2021 I believe now they're scaling up Health, Water Sanitation response. Go to rescue.org to check them out. I was involved with many of their workers in the Indonesian tsunami as well and the relief from that earthquake and tsunami and uh, and really recommend them so as well. Direct Relief is a ah, California based organization. They've been on the ground there for a while doing work. They do a lot around handing out medical kits which is incredibly important. So if you're seeing lists of supplies and I know many Venezuelan restaurants in the US in particular have been taking donations, ones that I've eaten at in Washington D.C. i've been following them and they've been sending stuff to Miami and they've actually been overloaded and so they have been stopping some of what they're asking for just because there's been so many pilots sent Here in the Bay Area we've got several restaurants, uh, there's Koopa Cafe which many of us go to. In fact it's a Stanford sort of uh, long tradition on Stanford's campus. But they have multiple restaurants in Palo Alto, Redwood City, different parts of the Silicon Valley. And right now if you get one of their coffees they have great Venezuelan coffee. In fact they are owners a coffee plantation near Caracas and have, I think their, maybe their son went to Stanford or something like that. So they started their restaurant and in the most recent Stanford graduation the Stanford president mentioned KPA Cafe. Many people have eaten there. They're doing a dollar donation for every coffee or drink purchase I think over the next few days to go to a uh, foundation in Venezuela that's on the ground that's helping. We also have Arepas, which is a San Jose restaurant in San Francisco location. And they have been taking donations and then are asking for volunteers to help pack up in Oakland to send out. I know many of the list of to donate have changed unfortunately it's gone from food, water, shovels and some uh, of those early things to now a long, a big request for body bags. And this is what happened in the tsunami as well. We had volunteers coming out bringing body bags, white shrouds to help Barry. And then it's you know A mass grave situation. Because what happens is there's a, you know, disease. Cholera is a concern that could happen. There's, uh, you know, malaria is a concern. All kinds of things that could happen when bodies aren't actually properly buried. And it does make it even a, uh, more dangerous situation for those who have survived. And it's, it's a horrible thing to talk about, but it's a reality for those of us who are really wanting to help. So locally rooted Venezuelan organizations, and once again, I have local friends that are taking up donations in churches. But if you're looking for organizations that I'm hearing a lot of good things about, one is, um, the We Love Foundation. I know a lot of people have been posting about them. Please check them out. It's formally I Love Venezuela Foundation. 13 years of working through local, trusted Venezuelan nonprofits. They're now running an emergency relief campaign for food, water, medical support, shelter. Shelter is a big one right now. And then Global Giving's Venezuela Earthquake Relief Fund, it channels flexible funding directly to vetted local organizations already working in affected communities. It's got a four star, uh, charity navigator rated. You can go to globalgiving.org to check them out for any of these organizations. When you give, please give to the organizations that are already embedded in the communities. And that's what moves the fastest and what keeps moving after the news and the cameras leave, which will eventually happen. But the rebuilding takes months, weeks, years to really get where Venezuela, I hope you know, was when I was growing up there in some really incredible years and even, and hopefully even better. So based on my own experience after the Indonesian tsunami, you know, usually around week three, there's a huge shift and things really start to change and people, they move on. So now's an opportunity. Now's the time to really get the resources that are needed for rebuilding going forward. So once again, I grew up on that coastline. The Caribbean is beautiful. Playaelita is my happy place. Anytime I have a big meeting or interview or something that I'm going to be doing, I have something called my Playaelita Reset, where I just lay on my bed. I play a song by Bobby McFerrin called the 23rd Psalm, which is an acoustic song that's just a very visual reset for me. But I imagine myself, my toes in the sand, um, close my eyes, and I imagine that I'm in Playa Elita because it literally is my happiest place in the world. And to think that that coastline has been a place of such destruction, death and devastation and Corruption and greed and gut wrenching videos and stories that we're seeing coming out. But also it's a place of hope. And I would say, you know, this is an area of the world that has been, you know, the largest number of asylum seekers have, that have come to the US in the least last several years have been from Venezuela. We also have a situation with ICE deporting those who have fled, desperate for their lives. In fact, many walked all from Venezuela. And if you just look at that on the map, it's thousands of miles. They walked from Venezuela through the Darien Gap, which is one of the most dangerous places in the world to walk through. And many don't make it through. Many, I think 90% men and women are sexually assaulted coming through that area. And they ones that make it through continue up and to the southern border of the us, through Juarez and to El Paso, up through, in some cases a different route where they go through Tijuana and end up in San Diego and here in California. But they walk so many miles to survive because Venezuela has been that mishandled, mismanaged, full of corruption, full of greed that has robbed their own people. Even one of the richest resource nations in the world, where OPEC began and where oil is rich and gold and diamonds and so many resources, but, um, people have had to leave to survive. People, many Venezuelans want to return to this beautiful land that is so beautiful, that is my own reset for myself because I. The waters of the Caribbean Ocean there are just like nowhere else. The people are incredible. The people taught me, uh, even in the midst of the poverty that we're seeing and watching, that riches aren't always about monetary funds, but that richness is in a culture and a people and a way of life. And they taught me to share. I mean, I learned to share from Venezuelans. And they're still teaching me to this day that even out of your own need and necessity and struggle and suffering, that you can still share. And I have that in my bones because they taught it to me and I'm seeing it happen again and again. They're going and they're doing the work of rescuing their people. After all they've gone through for so many years, after all they personally experienced those that survived. Venezuelans just help each other and that's what they taught me to do. And I hope that those arriving there to help with the relief efforts are, uh, as blessed by it as I've been and that they get to experience some of that beauty of humanity and what it means to Be human and make a difference in the world for each other. Shoulder to shoulder together celebrating. When somebody finds their baby or their mom, you know, the. The videos are full of. If you watch them calling the little kids like mamita or papito and precios arrenita, these are. May come across as very flowery to an English speaker, but it's the Venezuelan way of talking very kindly and sweetly to children, to elderly, you know, aunts and uncles and grandmas and grandpas and just people in our lives. It's a very, you know, positive culture, full of laughter and joy in the midst of sorrow and suffering. And, uh, they're a culture that taught me to dance, to dance in the rain, to find ways to celebrate even in the hard times. And I hope that that's what if you're an aid worker there right now, or you're watching this from afar or you're donating, and I hope that you do that, you are able to gain that thing that I have gained from Venezuelans. If you have a Venezuelan restaurant near you, please go eat an arepa, a plate, which is the national dish, or a cachapa, which is my favorite. I have a jugula percita, passion fruit juice. And just, you know, if you see that any of the workers there are Venezuelan, ask how they're doing and how you can help and listen to their story. Part of the way you can make a difference is just to listen to the story of survivors and even those who are here worried about their loved ones, not sleeping at night, constantly having them on their mind, wondering, uh, where they are, and listen with empathy. That's the way we can help each other heal. There's so much grief and loss and these kinds of terrible disasters, they never really go away. I still cry every year, 20 years later for my friend's baby that was lost, and the ones that I know their stories that were lost that day on December 26th in 2004. Um, so it's not something you really get over. It's something you integrate into your life. And this will be a day that marks Venezuela for the rest of its history. But you can be a part of helping people know that they can move forward because you care. Not dismissing their feelings, but by listening and empathizing and saying, that's understandable. Anybody in your situation would feel that way and saying, what's the hardest thing for you right now? And then, you know, helping them know that they can get through this with your help, with your support, be there for them. People need each other, and you can be a part of that. And it will bless you to be there for Venezuelans, because they are some of the most incredible people on this planet Earth. And, um, I wish it hadn't taken this to bring the world there to help. But if there is such a thing as a silver lining, I think it's that the world is showing up. And finally, Venezuelans don't have to feel as alone to walk through something so horrible. So if you have any questions, feel free to put them in the chat. You can also reach out through substack here. Um, and I'm going to post this audio up on my podcast for this week's episode. And feel free to reach out to me through the podcast website or through here on Substack. You can comment on this post. And, um, I read every comment. Also, I'm on LinkedIn. You can find me there if you have questions. But once again, I grew up on this coastline. It means so much to me. It's who I am. It's in my bones. It's one of the most beautiful places on Earth. And I've done this work in another country and after another disaster. And I can tell you that first month gets all the attention. Um, and then the next two years or when the real, real, real rebuilding happens quietly, after everyone has moved on. But if you can give, give now and give to organizations that are already on the ground. But if you can't give, share this episode. Raise awareness because attention is its own form of aid right now. And really Venezuela needs the world to keep watching, not just this week, but to. To be in it for the long haul with Venezuelans. They deserve that after all they've been through. Just checking for any questions that, um, you can put them in the chat. Um, I, I've been getting a lot of questions about the difference in giving to some of the bigger NGOs versus some of the smaller ones. I think, you know, I personally give to both. That's just me personal preference because there are definitely diff advantages and disadvantages of, as I mentioned, the larger ones who can be more involved in the coordination and see the more bird's eye view. But then the more grassroots level can get things more in a more agile way and more quickly in a way that's more culturally informed, but they don't necessarily have the bigger scope and understanding. So, um, I think that's the main difference there. You know, some other questions I've been getting because some people, you know, paid attention in January when the US went in and Used AI to use and drones and different things to capture Maduro in the middle of the night on January 6th of this year. And, and that he, you know, Maduro has been incarcerated and uh, he and his wife both charged with, you know, crimes, narco terrorism. But, um, and then that Trump had put. Had said that the Vice president, Delsier Rodriguez was going to be the. I mean, she's the interim president. But prior to that, there had been an election where Maduro M and Delsey had not been. Had not won the election, but then they stayed in power instead of giving it over. So there's that background. But also Trump had made this comment in a press conference in January that he was running the country. And that was sort of the last thing people remember him saying. And then all of a sudden this happens. So people are saying, is he running the country? Is Dulcie running the country? Is she just a puppet? What's going on? And you know, whatever is happening, Venezuela deserves better. They deserve the leadership that they've elected. Maria Corina Machado has gotten the Nobel Peace Prize because of her efforts. She's really backed the man who was elected. You know, it's really time, I think, for the world to stop coddling this regime that is torturing its own people. And we're seeing the results of years and years of that. That all the way to the very nefarious things that are happening in this video we saw with those dado that's documented stopping people from coming in to do the rescue and relief efforts. So, um, yeah, it's not an. A straightforward situation, but once again, I would recommend giving to vetted organizations. And if you know people personally on the ground that you trust that, you know, if they're asking for particular things that, yeah, feel free to give to them as well, because I think both, both are really important in my experience and what I'm doing. All right, well, if you have further questions, feel free to reach out. Like I said, I'm on LinkedIn. Lori Adams Brown, you can send me a DM there. Try to get to it when I can. It's getting a lot of DMS right now, but, um, and then also you can reach out to me here on Substack as well with, uh, putting a comment as I post this or reaching out to me that way. This again is going to be posted in my podcast this week just because I had something else planned. But wow, last Wednesday, everything changed. Like many of you, I was watching Brazil. They're my favorite team. I grew up with a lot of Brazilians in Venezuela. And Venezuela is more of a baseball country. And if you watch Major League Baseball in the States, you know many players are Venezuelan and are trying to use their platform to raise awareness for what's going on right now. It's been really wonderful to see the solidarity of many Major League Baseball teams here, including our, uh, San Francisco Giants here, who've shown and support for Venezuelans during this time. But, uh, Venezuela is not as big of a soccer country as it is a baseball country. But so I, my favorite team is Brazil. My second favorite team is Argentina. It was fun to watch them win a few years ago, but really a huge Brazil fan. And I was watching the Brazil Scotland game when I got news of the earthquakes last Wednesday. So everything really changed. And I know many of you have been very hypervigilant and trying to keep up with what's going on. I'm trying to do that too and also having trouble monitoring myself because I know it's not great to, to keep looking at that, but it's hard. I feel like, what can I do? And I know many of you have felt that way. What can I do to help? And so that's why I'm coming here today for this substack live is to let you know there are ways you can help. Once again, go to Instagram. Lori Adams Brown My Instagram has my link tree listed there and I've got the big organizations that I am donating to and that I recommend after my work in the Indonesian earthquake and Tsunami relief that are doing great work on the ground in Venezuela. So I'm going to just go through those one more time. I recommend UN OCHA OCH 8 for the coordination efforts they do at the large level. The International Red Cross, Venezuelan Red Cross. You can go to redcross.org unicef unicefusa.org direct relief is directrelief.org, it's California based. They're sending out a lot of medical supplies. They do great work. Medicaid Sans Frontier, It's Doctors Without Borders.org World Central Kitchen providing those hot meals, the cachitos to people out there doing the rescue work themselves. It's WCK.org International Rescue Committee is Rescue.org and then some local organizations. Uh, GlobalGiving.org it's Venezuela Earthquake Relief Fund and then we Love foundation as welovefoundation.org please give to help the Venezuelan efforts go in and out. Just listen to people in your local Venezuelan restaurant. Find Venezuelans online to follow and send them love and support. Reach out if you know of Venezuelan and ask how their family's doing and just be a listening ear. That empathy and listening can really make a huge difference. Thank you for joining me today. Thank you for wanting to know about and support Venezuelans both now and into the future as they rebuild over the next few years. And one thing I failed to mention, which is that in the US we've had a lot of ICE raids and they're increasing actually here in Santa Clara county, where I live, and the Bay Area. And we saw a huge number of them deported to Venezuela that had arrived just before the earthquake happened. Forgetting the number. It was, I want to say, like somewhere around 150 people. And these are people, many of whom who, like I said, left Venezuela because the situation has been so dire for 27 years. To survive, to eat, to be able to just live. Many of them came to the US out of desperation, seeking asylum, walking, as I mentioned, all the way through the Darien Gap, through Mexico into the US and finding jobs oftentimes in something like construction. They may be an engineer, brilliant at teaching in a, you know, master's level in the university, but are starting over here because of the way our system has not been very kind toward these individuals in the last few years especially. But many of them work in construction, being paid without medical care, with no social supports, and trying to, you know, work 15 plus hours in very difficult conditions to survive, and then getting caught by ice, put into a, um, detention center and then sent back to Venezuela. And many of them were in the area that was hardest hit by the earthquake and many of them didn't survive. So after all that, they left, survived all of that, tried to make a life for themselves, were doing the best, hardest work that they could in order to make it, and then got sent back many young, you know, dads in their 20s with a baby and then just snatched and gone and then sent home to where they had left, often made an example out of by the regime, the government, making it, you know, making them have to give certain, almost sell their soul to just survive there under those circumstances, losing every dream possible they had of surviving another way and having anybody show kindness to help them with their asylum cases. And then the earthquake hit and many of them are still unaccounted for, have been officially considered among the death toll. And yeah, that, that part as a US citizen, living here under this current administration, and the cruelty, um, of it all is a special kind of nefarious. I don't know if you could possibly put yourself in the shoes of someone else in that situation. But it's easier for me because I grew up with Venezuelans. I don't see them as others. I see them as my people that I, that raised me, that taught me the values that I have of sharing, caring for others. If you have enough food for two people, stretch it for three because, you know, people need help and they need to eat. And so for them to be treated this way and for that to be the way their lives end, I just. That's been a really hard one for me and I know it has been for many of you because it touches, you know, ways I vote and the things I say to my representatives here in California and the U.S. government. And, uh, I think that as the richest country in the world, we should do a better job caring for others and sharing and, uh, up. So I hope whatever happens going forward, we start to see Venezuelans with more empathy as people who have tried their very best to elect the right people. And our systems of government have names and labels. But what matters is if you are greedy, stealing from your own people, and you're corrupt and you're taking what isn't yours for yourself at the expense of your own people, and you're in a government position, you need to go. And I think that hopefully we've established that. So I hope that whatever efforts we support right now will lead toward that. Thank you for joining today. Thank you for listening. Go find some Venezuelans to love and support and care for and listen to and empathize with, and let's continue to make the world a better place. All you difference makers, it means so much to me that you would show up and listen today. Thank you for who you are and keep making a difference for Venezuelans and beyond.

Speaker A: Thank you, difference makers, for being here, not just for listening, for being the kind of person who shows up for conversations just like this one. Because you believe the world gets better when we understand each other more. And that is who difference makers are. And you are one of them. There are two ways to go even deeper on Patreon. At patreon.com aworldofdifference for $7 a month, you get bonus conversations. And Community25 gets you into the room

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Speaker A: Live every quarter with me directly on Substack. Paid subscribers get full essays, no paywall, and a monthly live conversation where I say the things I can't say anywhere else. Links to both of those are in

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Speaker A: for you to join me in both of those places. If this episode stayed with you. Share it with five people, you know, who need this right now. That is how we grow this, and that is how we grow ourselves at the same time. I am Lori Adams Brown. Until next time, difference makers.

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