Port of Call LAST UPDATE August 8, 2010
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June 27, 2010 Venezuela – The Missions that Must Succeed
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This center was build near the slums of La Guaira in 2006 and provides medical care to about 300 people each day.
The Bolivarian revolution is the cause of rapid change in Venezuela. This social movement, aimed at empowering citizens through better living conditions, began after president Hugo Chavez took power in 1999. Global University (GU) students on Peace Boat's 69th Voyage visited a series of programmes called the Bolivarian Missions to learn about how the Venezuelan government is trying to improve the standard of living throughout Latin America. These programmes include creating better access to health care, housing and education.
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David Barroso, a patient at the clinic, said doctors here found a lump in his intestines and their early diagnosis saved his life.

Bilateral trade relationships within Latin America have grown steadily during the last decade. Hugo Chavez has used Venezuela's extensive oil reserves to generate trade deals with other nations including Brazil, Cuba and Argentina. GU students took a tour of a medical facility in an economically disadvantaged part of La Guaira, which is staffed with 26 Cuban doctors. The director of the center, Yordanka Hernandes told the students that more than 25,000 Cuban medical staff are currently working throughout the country under a deal which exchanges Venezuelan oil for Cuban expertise. "When doctors were first sent to areas like this near the slums, there were no facilities so practitioners had to work on the street."
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The equipment at these medical facilities is imported from a range of European and Asian countries such as Japan and Australia.

These medical facilities provide treatment to patients free of charge. GU students went to the Optometrist Center of Vargas State which conducts free surgery to citizens of any nation, not just Venezuelans. The country's society has a long tradition of helping those in need, said the center's medical director, Yolimar Alberti. More than 3,600 people are treated here each week and the facility mainly performs surgery to restore sight, such as operations that remove cataracts. "The Bolivarian Revolution is responsible for such great change in Venezuela, I haven't seen anything like this before," Ms Alberti said.
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Part of the reason the Bolivarian Revolution is so important is because much of Venezuela's population lives in slum areas like this.

Access to better medical care is not the only advantage to people living in poor areas. Under the Bolivarian Revolution, sprawling communities built on the mountains surrounding cities like La Guaira have access to funds that can be used to improve housing and local community services. Peace Boat participants met with representatives from the Tres Colores Community, named after the three colours of the Venezuelan flag: red, blue and yellow. They learn how funds are being used to build better roads, remove rubbish, and renovate previously unfinished walls. During a tour of the area, GU students were able to see up-close the dire conditions of life in the slums and how even a small amount of money goes a long way to improving the lives the people residing there.
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Global University students painted a huge mural on a newly constructed wall. The theme of the mural was 'what does peace mean to you?'
A cultural exchange was held between members of the community Tres Colores and GU students in which both groups explained how they were trying to create a better society. Regular elections are held in the Tres Colores Community to decide on a committee which will represent the people and to campaign for funding to improve infrastructure. These committees have only recently sprung up throughout Venezuela in order to take advantage of new funds provided through the Bolivar Revolution. "We are creating new school programs and improving education throughout this area", said Hackel Perez, the elected leader of the Tres Colores Community.
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Music training for children as young as five brings a new form of joy and fulfilment to their lives.
Another key component of the Bolivarian Revolution is creating new opportunities for young people from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. GU students went to see how students are taught to play musical instruments at one of seven music facilities scattered across La Guaira. Dozens of children played a series of Venezuelan songs and even gave the GU students some quick lessons on how to use their instruments. Programmes like these are good for the community because they bring people together and help parents to become more involved in the lives of their children. The medical, housing, and educational missions of La Guaira taught GU students about how life for people struggling with poverty can be improved through simple, but effective methods.