((PKG)) VENEZUELAN IMMIGRANT
(SPANISH BRANCH)
((Banner: Waiting to Return))
((Reporter/Camera: Cristina Caicedo Smit))
((Adapted by: Philip Alexiou))
((Map:: United States / Virginia / Reston))
((NAME WITHHELD, VENEZUELAN DENTIST))
It’s not easy to be an immigrant in another country. You have to leave many things, not only your affections, your friends, and in this case, I'm a dentist. I left my patients too. But there came a time when I couldn't take care of my patients because we did not have medications.
My daughter wasn't that young when I decided to come here. My daughter was already seven years old and it has been a very short period of time since I got here, only five months. But every time I see these babies, I see my nephews, I see other children. I see my daughter interacting with them, I see the tranquility when they attend school. When she enjoys a park, I feel it was the best decision.
In this case, I washed dishes in a restaurant. I cleaned houses. I cleaned restaurants too. I'm a nanny right now taking care of children. It isn't my profession. I miss my profession. Over there (Venezuela) people who help are followed. I use a pseudonym in my social networks. So, when someone needs something in particular, we do it through Whatsapp. If I see someone here, I'll ask another member. I'll ask someone from our organization to go there to check if that person needs medication. And immediately we are looking for someone to bring supplies to those kids. If there's a fight, or a confrontation, and some of those young people are detained, they take away their cell phones. The first thing they do is check their social media with whom they communicate. So, from that point of view, we have always been afraid. Because we are active, we help people access medical treatment, supplies, and water. To protect ourselves we use pseudonyms. We don't mention names, where we work or our profession.
If Venezuela recovers, I'm completely sure that I would like to go back to Venezuela and help with the reconstruction. Many other professionals will make the same decision. Because we love our Venezuela and it's in our hearts.
