Where We Work
The Turimiquire Foundation works through its sister organization Fundación ServYr, based in the city of Cumaná, capital of the State of Sucre, located on Venezuela’s northeastern Caribbean coast. Cumaná is said to be the site of one of the earliest continental landings by Christopher Columbus, and to be the oldest continuously-inhabited, European-established settlement on mainland South America.
We take our name from the local Turimiquire mountain range forming the backbone of the State of Sucre (an eastern extension of the Andes mountains). Turimiquire, pronounced Too-ree-mee-kée-ray, means “Seat of the Gods” in the Carib language, the indigenous tribe that once lived in this Caribbean part of Venezuela.
Located on the eastern coastline of Venezuela, the state of Sucre is noted for its Caribbean climate and culture.
Venezuela is currently in the midst of a protracted, highly polarized socio-political crisis, resulting in pervasive institutional and economic instability. Particularly in the last decade, there has been sporadic scarcity of basic consumer goods, including food and medicines, along with very high rates of inflation and crime, making the country a very challenging place to live in, especially for its low-income populations.
The State of Sucre is a rural region of great physical beauty with a wonderful Caribbean climate, but with chronically unmet human need, particularly in the areas of health and education. Sucre’s undeveloped and largely rural nature makes it similar to the Appalachian region of the United States. Many families live far from roads and electricity, schools and hospitals.
Venezuela’s ongoing economic crisis has been widely documented in the international press. Since 2014 the humanitarian crisis has accelerated, bringing notable deterioration on every level throughout the country, with hyperinflation and chronic widespread scarcities of basic consumer goods, including food and medicine, gasoline, cooking gas, water and electricity.
