The trip to San Fernando was fascinating.  I had never been to the great plains of Venezuela (Los Llanos) before.  It is a wonderland of exotic birds and animals.  I saw birds of every color and size.  And it is hot!

San Fernando gave me the opportunity to tell about Andean Aid to several influential Evangelical Christian leaders.  They were very interested in bringing our ministry there.  José Nieves was very supportive and was delighted that I had served at Christiansen academy.  We talked about his time of service at Tama-Tama in Amazonas state and the similarities in our observations at both schools.  He was astonished that I had visited Taama-Tama and it gave us an immediate bond.

Pastor Teodulo Araujo pastored in Venezuela for more than forty four years.  He was happy to hear that a North American loved his people and was providing such as service as Andean Aid does.  He told me of his time in San Cristobal and I found he was associated with OVICE there.  This man knew John Christiansen and knows my friend Norman Chugg.

On our return trip we stopped at a number of villages along the way.  We had the marvelous treat of a fried fish breakfast at a fishing village along the river.  The fish went from boat to frying pan in very short order and was delicious served with avocado and fried yucca.  I met the Jimenez family there.  It was great to talk to them about our Help and Hope Centers.

At our stop in Naranjales in the state of Tachira I met Pastor Henry Castro.  He is senior pastor of both the Cristo La Unica Esperanza in Naranjales and the church in El Nula in Apure state.  Pastor Castro would like a Help and Hope Center in both locations.  The facilities are excellent and he has a dedicated staff and congregation member to teach.  The Naranjales church feeds seventy poor children breakfast each day.  I’ve very excited about this new opportunity.

The photo gallery below shows the student orientation, the students at their project location and photos to give you a feel for the locations where they will serve.

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Stay tuned for the next post “A New School”.

During my career I’ve been involved in emergency management in several areas.  In the Navy I was responsible for helping to manage damage control aboard a submarine and in the nuclear power industry I held several positions to help alleviate emergencies and taught emergency planning.  A basic tenet in each case was that those with a specified role handled the emergency and those without a role were either evacuated from the area or contained.  We did not open the doors to the nuclear plant during an emergency and allowed unqualified people to “do what they thought best”.

So, my question is, what was the Idaho group even doing in Haiti?  Why do unqualified people and groups flock to the scenes of disasters and more importantly why are they allowed to flock to these areas?  My guess is that the answer lies in the lack of a centralized point of control.  There is no one person or entity in control.

Did the Idaho group have good intentions?  Probably.  But, in the end, they did more harm than good.  The legal system in Haiti was tied up deciding what to do with them.  Police had to arrest, guard and feed them rather than participate in the search and recovery effort.  They are lucky that all they endured was a few days in a jail cell floor.  There are areas of the world where the punishment would be harsh and swift for taking children across international borders without documentation.

I want to assure our supporters and contributors that Andean Aid takes great pains to ensure that we operate within the law in the countries where we serve.   We have formed a civil association in Venezuela and we are fully documented to provide our services to children and families.  Our president Ana Carillo and director Gaby Andrade (see their bios on the Directors and Staff Page) are diligent in keeping abreast with changes in the law and we work with very good child welfare attorneys in Venezuela.  We work hard to earn and keep your trust.