Familia Rodriguez
ADVOCATE: Slade Gurr
September 19, 2019
At the first of August I reached out to a former companion after I came across some old mission videos (Familia Rodriguez). As we chatted back and forth he indicated that he had been able to survive the past several years because he had a Mill Grinder, which was allowing him to process some food. He said that the grinding wheel on it recently broke, and he did not know what he was going to do.
I knew it was futile, but I attempted to contact the manufacturer in China in an effort to see about getting the part. He had a cousin that could potentially carry the small part over the border If I could get the piece to his cousin, or he would travel over the border into Colombia to retrieve it. I was unable to get any response from the manufacturer in China. Given the fact that we have exhausted the capability to assist families financially, he continues to seek some solution but knows that my hands are tied.
December 18, 2019
You may recall the family that told me about the grinding wheel that broke. It was going to cost over $100 to get the grinding wheel fixed, and I spent a few weeks trying to locate the obscure part from a china manufacturer without any luck. I was told that he had another friend from the mission that was in the United States that was also trying to help him. I reached out to this friend, one of his former companions, “Adam” and the three of us started working together to see how best to get him the part he needed. Adam said that he had also been trying to find the part without any luck, and Adam and I both agreed that was a lost cause. It became apparent to both Adam and me that he would not be able to travel out of the country to get the part or a WesternUnion drop, and we would not be able to send a new machine into Venezuela.
On one occasion, He mentioned that he had used Bitcoin to retain some of the value on the little money he had. Adam happens to be familiar with Bitcoin. They did a test of 10$ and he was able to get the money. After the test was run, Adam said that he had been wanting to help him for a long time, and was grateful for the opportunity. He would not take any of the donations that I offered, some of which would have come from this group. I don’t know how much he sent, but I know it was more than enough, based on the gratitude that was expressed afterword. He has not had the ability to get video or photos of his machine working, but he did indicate that because of Adam’s assistance he was going to be able to get everything for his business working again. He is way excited, but his access to the internet is very limited so I don’t hear from him very often. He did mention he was going to send me a photo or a video, I will pass it on when/if I get it.
December 27, 2019
You may recall that several months ago Familia Rodriguez broke apart on his automatic grinder. One of his former mission companions was able to send him some bitcoin to get it fixed. Over the Christmas break, he sent me a few photos of the process that he goes through to get flower using the machine… which is how he provides for his family. He said things are still pretty tough, but he is optimistic and indicated he was grateful that he has his machine. Here are the photos he sent:
I have enjoyed working with these families and all of them have expressed immense gratitude for the help that they have received. As I continue to look into the nonprofit organization, I have come across a variety of different organizations that are doing a lot of good in the world. Some are working specifically with the Venezuelans inside and outside of the country. I don’t know that any of them can directly help some of the families like we have been able to, but they are helping a lot of families. I will continue to look at this possibility but have not made any commitments yet.
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