Venezuela sits between Brazil and Colombia with a gorgeous northern coast to the Caribbean Sea.
With oil reserves that might never deplete, and with the world's highest uninterrupted waterfall, one would assume the country would be booming or would be a wonderful place to visit; yet the reality of my birth country is very different.
Life for the average Venezuelan today is very hard and almost unimaginable to us here in the UK.
Regardless of age, gender, political affiliation, aspirations, or dreams, life for Venezuelans today is consumed by how will they access their next meal.
Unfortunately, Venezuelans are now down to rations, and have to wait in long queues to see if food will be available. They can only wait in queue if their ID number is allocated for that particular day of the week.
Sometimes, there is something to buy but most times there is nothing to buy. If there is something to buy it is at unaffordable prices anyway which makes the situation increasingly frustrating for all citizens.
As if food worries are not enough, Venezuelans fear for their own safety, the safety of their goods and property. Sadly, Venezuela has become 
a very dangerous country with everyone being victims of muggins or kidnappings. Personally, I don’t have to look too far to hear frightening stories as my uncle and brother were both kidnapped and thankfully released. My uncle was harmed by ‘mistake’, shot on his leg yet both crimes have gone unreported.
This is a somewhat regular occurrence with some super wealthy people opting for armoured cars and body guards.
One other concern which also plagues Venezuelans today is the risk of needing a doctor.
The situation is desperate, hospitals and clinics have no supplies including essentials like cotton balls or basic gloves. Getting sick, having a baby or needing medical assistance of any kind, comes at a high risk unless you have money to buy supplies abroad and bring them in.
Needless to say this luxury can only be afforded by the super elite. I don’t have a solution to this crisis and I am not sure anyone really does either but the fact remains that some of my cousins and close relatives still live there without the possibility of emigrating anywhere else.
All I can do from the UK is send them parcels full of essential times such as toilet paper, sanitary towels and canned food, when and only when the lines for delivering goods are open and not being robbed.
As a thought, next time you feel you have a bad day, step back and ask yourself: do you worry about walking on the streets alone? Or do you worry about how you will access food or medical services in case of an emergency? The answer is to all of those questions will be most definitely no, so it can’t be too bad to be in beautiful Devon with plenty of food and access to the gorgeous countryside.
Our blessings are immense and Venezuelans remind us of this.
Gabriella.