Posted on 01/02/2018
My dear supporters and friends, first of all I wish you all a happy and prosperous new year filled with the blessings people as kind and caring as all of you deserve. You have helped us survive 2017 amid the worst economic debacle we have ever faced... People in Venezuela can't feed themselves, and yet we were able to feed our family of more than 50 cats, and even open our doors to new rescues, and that is no small miracle.Your generosity has taken us this far, and I really couldn't ask any more of you than you already do for us... but I'm afraid I might have to during this grueling 2018 we have ahead of us.
https://tribunecontentagency.com/article/its-hard-to-believe-but-venezuelas-economic-crisis-will-get-worse-in-2018/
Let me try to explain what has happened these last couple of months that has me so worried about the future. This past November Venezuela entered Hyperinflation proper (the first instance of that dreaded phenomenon registered in the world since Zimbabwe a decade ago), and to make things worse for us, since December even the dollar started a steep decline in its purchasing power in this distorted economy. The $500 I held as monthly goal for our expenses were enough throughout 2017 despite non-stop raising inflation because as inflation went up in Venezuela, in the same measure went up the price of the dollar in the exchange market, giving us just enough Bolivars to cope for the raising prices of goods. Not anymore. Inflation rate went up a staggering 100% this month, but this time the exchange rate of dollar to bolivar didn't go up accordingly, it even went down. What this means is today $500 is buying only half or less of the goods it could buy just a month ago in Venezuela. And we don't even know how far this devaluation of the purchasing power of the dollar will go from here. We can't make plans, we can't take previsions, anything is possible in a country in free fall. You can understand how worried this makes me with all these many innocent mouths to feed at home. All Venezuelans still here and aware of what is coming are planning to escape the country before it's too late. We can't dream to do such thing, our cats are counting on us...
And we count on all of you, my dear friends. You have never let us down, and these past months we received more help than usual that helped us prepare as much as we could for the days ahead. I still have reserves of rice, kibble and canned sardines to last us to the end of January, but after that is depleted and I have to stack up again, I don't know what kind of prices I'll have to deal with and how many dollars I'll need to cover basic expenses. As I said earlier, I can't ask of you any more generosity than you already shower us with. And I know I won't have to. Our friends care deeply about our wellbeing, as shown time and time again.
Linda, Michelle, Donna, Tracey, Lexy, Ash, Kate, our anonymous supporters, our twitter friends, and of course Laurie, Romana, Magda and Dennis: Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the Christmas cheer, love and spiritual support you gave us this December. And to all the friends who supported us throughout 2017: without each and every one of you we wouldn't be here today. And thanks to all of you I'm sure I'll be here writing a hopeful and positive update 12 months from now, no matter what may happen in Venezuela this year.
God bless you all and keep you safe!
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