Our Recipe for Community Development
Based on more than 40 years of experience living and working in the impoverished regions of northeastern Venezuela, the Turimiquire Foundation has developed our Recipe for a Thriving Community as a cohesive four-step blueprint for how an NGO can deliver maximum value in human services to its clients.
Family Planning: Offer women and men the ability to control their fertility.
Education: Offer families real educational opportunities for their children.
Community: Support infrastructure development and sustainable livelihood.
Humanitarian Aid: Provide critical assistance in Venezuela’s current crisis.
This Recipe is now a tested and replicable service delivery model based on years of living with and responding to what low-income families have told us that they need, and carefully observing how and in what order they choose to utilize our services.
We always invest in human capital first, offering the services that are most relevant to addressing the developmental needs of our low-income clients.
STEP ONE
Family Planning
- Family planning services
- Reproductive health education, with focus on adolescents
STEP TWO
Focus on Education
- Student scholarships
- Teacher development
- Computers and Internet
- Public schools and infrastructure
STEP THREE
Develop the Community
- Sustainable livelihood and eco-agriculture
- Public services and infrastructure
- Community Centers (Urban and Rural)
STEP FOUR
Provide Humanitarian Aid as Needed
- Medical procedures and common medicines no longer available in the public sector
- Emergency loans and other assistance
Transforming Lives – The Recipe in Action!
FAMILY PLANNING JOHANA
We first met Johana's mother, Chabela, as a young girl growing up in a distant pristine river valley several walking hours from the nearest road. Chabela's parents were illiterate and Chabela herself is only semi-literate. Now her daughter Johana is a trained nurse! Johana began as one of our high school scholarship students, went to university with our support, graduated in nursing, got a job in public health as a rural health provider, and now works for the Ministry of Public Health. Johana also partners with our Foundation, distributing our contraceptives in rural communities, and serving as a pre- and post-operative nurse on our surgery teams. We’re lucky to have her on our staff, as her community and our clients can attest!
RURAL EDUCATION MARCELA
Marcela was one of our first high school scholarship students, chosen and trained by our pioneering U.S. volunteer Lindsey Bloom to manage the Foundation's upriver Education Center. Marcela comes from a large and hard-working campesino family with traditional rural skills, but very little formal education. The first college graduate in her family, she is currently studying to become a certified public school teacher. Like the Foundation itself, Marcela bridges two different worlds - the rural and the urban. She is helping other students cross that divide and has become a mentor to many of the young women in our program.
RURAL DEVELOPMENT BOB
Roberto is locally known as Jose Mango for his passion for mangos and tropical fruits. A Foundation Board Member and longtime resident of Venezuela, Roberto is the motor behind our rural development and agricultural program. He presides over our farms, which serve as community centers under his guidance. He has installed solar energy and gravity-piped fresh water systems, managed trail-building and maintenance, and introduced many lesser-known tropical fruits – such as Mangosteen, Durian, and Jackfruit – to the region. Seedlings have been disseminated to local farmers, horticulturists, and to various agricultural institutions with the goal of establishing these exotic fruits as a real addition to Venezuela’s food base and economy.
HUMANITARIAN AID SILVIA
Dr. Silvia Quijada (left, in striped shirt) is in charge of Oncology at the State Ministry of Health. She has been working with us since 1999 and serves on the Board of Directors of our Venezuelan organization Fundación ServYr. Silvia coordinates our medical programs, serving as a liaison in both the public and private sectors where we work. She directs our surgery program, screening the many patients who come to us for assistance, and directing them to where we can most help. Silvia is also an important mentor and example to the young women and students who work with us. Coming from a low-income family in a small coastal town, Silvia is not only the first member of her family to graduate from college, she became a doctor and a leader as well!
