Marriage amidst Socialist Chaos

Everyone feels the desire and the need to form a family in which traditions can be created, values ​​forged and unique experiences can be lived. In addition to experiencing true love and 

Venezuelans are not the exception.  We are known for being very close and loving. However, forming a family in the midst of the crisis that the country is experiencing is a real challenge and some see it as something impossible to achieve.

My wife and I decided to get married in August 2019, in the middle of the great problems that our country faces.  Our friends were very surprised to hear this news, they told us that we were crazy to get married so young and in Venezuela.  By then we were 24 years old, we had no home, refrigerator, kitchen, bed, steady job and we were both trying to study at the university and barely making any progress because of the situation from the country.

We did not have money saved to make a celebration as was done in years before in Venezuela, we only had love and the desire to start our own history together. I confess that I was afraid of this new stage of life.  I was worried that It would fail because we didn’t have what it takes to survive.  We had no permanent work and hyper inflation-related prices make basic commodities very difficult to obtain. I was terrified to think that we would not have how to feed ourselves, dress, wash, or buy medicines.  Nevermind giving ourselves a luxury such as a honeymoon or a vacation.

However, even though all things were going to play against us we decided to make our dreams come true and we got married.  Several close people including our parents collaborated to carry out a small celebration, it was very special to have a thought-free moment.  We were very grateful to those who blessed us with this gift.  From that moment we began to combine our talents and resources to create a small business.  We did not do very well at first, so we tried other jobs without abandoning the goal of a small business. It is normal to hear that a person in Venezuela has more than one job, and most likely the other job has nothing to do with your profession. The monthly salary is between $ 2.5 and $3 a week.  However, you need at least $10 a week to be able to afford food.

To this day my wife and I have various sources of income, when there is no demand in one, we pursue another. We have had some difficult months where we have to reduce food portions and sacrifice buying medicine when necessary. We hope to continue studying at the university, despite the difficulties of being professionals in the future. We still do not have our own house or furniture, we live in the house of an uncle who is outside the country, but we have the goal of raising money little by little to buy ours somewhere moment. Although we have been blessed, it is inevitable to fear what may happen in the future, we want to have children and we want them to have what it takes to develop and thrive. However, inflation continues to grow, all public services are on the ground, electricity, water, transport, urban cleaning, domestic gas, gasoline is in real chaos.  Hospitals are in total decline, sometimes I think we do magic to live in these conditions.

I know that there are families who are currently experiencing extremely difficult times, they are without food, live in even worse conditions than we do. They are completely without basic resources such as water and food, they have no employment, many people have incurable diseases, the elderly are without a roof to sleep under, this is truly tragic. And who can they turn to for help If we are all in the same conditions?

Having a family in Venezuela is no longer the job of one provider, but everyone at home must help to survive.  We are trying to be brave and hold on to the hope of a better Venezuela, in spite of knowing that everything is collapsing before our eyes. 

Daniel Moreno