ReTo: Wheels and a Meal [Ruedas y una Comida]
A week ago, thanks to the help of @daddykirbs and many other people, I was able to run my car, which was stranded for a year due to lack of tires. With the slogan "WHEELS AND A MEAL" a fund was raised to buy the tires. I'm adding "before and after" pictures of the car, and photos of our visit to a fast food restaurant in a shopping mall nearby, where I had a meal with my family and enjoyed some ice cream. Thanks to all the donors. Thanks "P & J" for those words: "We are IMPORTANT, LOVED and NOT FORGOTTEN". It really helps us to get rid of the fear knowing there's some people there who cares about us. Thanks, of course, for your donation. Now we can take our children to school. Too many problems with buses who refuse taking students. Now we can visit our relatives frequently, to help them and get help from them. Now, with the car, we have better ways of managing the crisis and solving problems. God bless you all.
Hace una semana, gracias a la ayuda de @daddykirbs y a la de muchas otras personas, pude poner a andar mi carro, que estuvo parado un año por falta de cauchos. Con la consigna "RUEDAS Y UNA COMIDA" se creó un fondo que logró reunir el valor de los cauchos y algo más. Agrego fotos del antes y después de los cauchos nuevos. Agrego también fotos de una visita al Centro Comercial Plaza Mayor, en Lechería Venezuela, donde comí con mi familia y disfrutamos de unos helados. Gracias a todos los donadores. Gracias "P" y "J" por esas palabras: "Somos IMPORTANTES, AMADOS y NO OLVIDADOS". Realmente nos ayuda a deshacernos del miedo el saber que hay personas allí que se preocupan por nosotros. Gracias, por supuesto, por su donación. Ahora podemos llevar a nuestros hijos al colegio. Demasiados problemas con autobuses que se niegan a llevar estudiantes. Ahora podemos visitar a nuestros familiares con frecuencia, para ayudarlos y obtener ayuda de ellos. Ahora, con el carro, tenemos mejores formas de enfrentar la crisis y resolver problemas. Dios los bendiga a todos.
WHEELS | RUEDAS
( Click on images to enlarge | Cliquear imágenes para ampliar )
Ready! steady! go!
Ya listo. "El Melange todavía corre"
(frente al colegio de mis hijos)
...AND A MEAL | ...Y UNA COMIDA
McDonald's
Plaza Mayor, Lechería, Venezuela
Great post. Very touching.
For those of you that live outside Venezuela and perhaps don’t understand the context of this story.
Ten years ago, buying a set of tires and taking your family out for a dinner in a fast food restaurant was something normal that even the most humble workers could afford with a little effort.
Some years ago, the Venezuelan economy was destroyed. A set of tires costs much more than a whole year of wages for a humble worker. Taking your family out for a meal in a fast food restaurant costs three times the legal minimum monthly wage. In conclusion, it’s impossible to afford. Thousands and thousands of vehicles are rotting under the sun because the parts are unafordable and the middle class, as it disappeared, saw how their few assets (a small car, a small house) broke down because their income is hardly enough to feed their families for five days (provided they eat only 1 ½ meals a day instead of three).
The crisis’ been for so long that, most probably, those children don’t remember what a normal life is. For them this chaos is “normal”. They have to wait between two and three hours for a bus.
@amaponian uses his vehicle to get help and give help to his family and his wife’s family.
Thank you @sansoncarrasco for explaining that. It's helpful to understand what is going on. Here, for many of us in America, we just don't understand what life like that would be like. Eating "out" is so normal. Having food in the pantry is normal. Living with a working car is normal... It is difficult to comprehend life without those things. I'm grateful to be a part of this story.
@amaponian, you have a beautiful family. I'm so pleased you were able to get your car running again. Keep up the good work my friend, things are getting better.
Thanks @katedansyng. It's good to see you here.
Tienes una hermosa familia, Dios los bendiga :-)
Sí. Gracias. Saludos.
Thank you @amaponian for sharing this story! I love seeing your car being repaired. It's wonderful to hear that you can spend time with your kids now taking them to school instead of relying on expensive public transportation that takes hours out of their day. Seeing you eating a full meal with your family makes me want to cry... but I'm at work so I won't LOL. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of this.
Don't cry. Just don't leave us alone.
Did you see the restaurants area is almost empty?
-Too expensive having a meal like this. Few people here can afford it. Can't be done frequently. (we used to do this every two or three weeks five years ago) It was about 3.5 SBD = Ten months of income in my last job (I'm serious. I've just called a person who is still working there) .
That day I also took two pictures of empty shelves...
This is one of them (click to enlarge):
I THINK THIS SHOP IS CLOSED
I did notice that the food court area was not very busy. We're here for you. Thank you for continuing to do the translations on my videos. I love having the Spanish sub-titles to reach a broader audience.
I ceritify it, things like this / go out to eat on the weekends with the family to a shopping center), they are practically impossible because of the high cost and price of food and services in Venezuela, if you go out to eat out, you stay unable to buy food at home. Many businesses in bankruptcy, people fleeing the country to find another direction, in short, our quality of life greatly diminished. :(
Hola @amapolan, que emoción sentí al leer tu post y ver tu Melange andar, verte sonreír y compartir en familia, todo gracias a Dios, a tu esfuerzo y a el Sr. daddykirbs
Un saludo desde mi cocina
Me percato de que no mencioné a Dios
(aunque está de primero en mi corazón):
..."en lugares de delicados pastos me hará descansar.
Junto a aguas de reposo me pastoreará"...
Felicidades por tu post @amaponian lograste hacer ver un poquito de los problemas ante los demás. Gracias a Dios pudiste arreglar tu carro que tanta falta hace.
Milagro de Dios poder arreglar el carro en estos tiempos tan difíciles.
So happy to see this thread and the help of @daddykirbs who shared your story!
I'm happy to see this done and to share with others.
Excelente post. Muy emocionante.
Para los que no viven en Venezuela y quizá no entiendan el contexto.
Hace 10 años, comprar cuatro neumáticos y llevar a la familia a una comida fuera a un lugar de comida rápida era algo normal que aún las personas más humildes podían costearse con un poco de esfuerzo.
De unos años para acá, la economía de Venezuela fue destruida. Unos neumáticos cuestan mucho más de lo que un trabajador humilde ganaría en un año. Ir con la familia a un restaurante de comida rápida cuesta tres veces el sueldo mínimo establecido de ley. En pocas palabras es inalcanzable. Miles y miles de vehículos están deteriorándose por falta de repuestos incomparables y la clase media se ha empobrecido viendo destruirse sus pocos activos (un pequeño vehículo o una pequeña casa) debido a que los sueldos a duras penas alcanzan para costear cinco días de comida para una familia de cuatro (siempre y cuando ingieran 1 ½ comidas al día en lugar de tres).
La crisis lleva tanto tiempo, que estos niños seguramente no recuerdan lo que es una vida normal, para ellos este desastre es "normal". Tienen que esperar entre dos y tres horas por un bus.
@amaponian usa su vehículo para dar y recibir ayuda del resto de su familia y la familia de su esposa.
Thank God. It's great that they posted the wonderful post in English and Spanish. Congratulations finally the melange runs. I am impressed by the loneliness of the main square, the fast food place was always full of diners, people having fun, sadness breaks my heart.
your children are precious and great God bless all those who helped
Gracias a Dios. Esta genial que colocaron en ingles y español el post maravilloso. Felicitaciones por fin el melange corre. Me impresiona la soledad de plaza mayor el lugar de comida rapida siempre estaba full de comensales gente divirtiendose, me da tristeza me rompe el corazon.
tus hijos estan preciosos y grandes Dios los bendiga a todos los que ayudaron
Felicidades @amaponian por solventar tus problemas con el premio de Daddykirbs ya que la situacion para nosotros en Venezuela en dificil desde todos los puntos de vista...
Gracias. Saludos!