xxferret

[xxferret]

Tomorrow I won’t be an illegal immigrant anymore! If all goes well lmao. Thanks again to everyone who has helped me out, you have literally changed my life I can’t even put it into words thank you all so much!!

[xxferret]

Hey, I’m sorry to be fundraising again but let me tell you what’s been happening: I arrived in Buenos Aires on April 5th, been here over a month and a half now. I’m still illegal, I get my documents on June 25th, with that I can finally work legally. It is extremely hard to find work as an illegal immigrant, literally even to clean houses I’ve been asked for my papers, every single day I search the internet and walk the whole city and nothing yet (well not exactly, I’ll get to that part later). There are thousands (idk exactly how many but a lottt) of Venezuelans here, every day there are more of us, many in my same situation. While they recognize us as hard workers and treat us well in general, it’s still a lot of competition, and those of us with documents are given preference in most jobs (there is a HUGE fine to employers for having illegal employees, I’ve been told it’s the equivalent of 1 year’s minimum wage). I have found a few jobs but:

1) pay was only commissions, it was a new business with no customers, so sometimes I made only 12 USD per week for full time, and minimum wage for a week here is 100 USD, I wasn’t even making anywhere near half minimum wage

2) got sexually harassed by the boss/owner, so lasted only two days. I wanted to stick it out because work is work but everyone convinced me to leave because I already have suffered major depression and traumas, it would cost me more in the long run (therapy, meds, illness, all the expenses you get from trauma) so emotions aside it still wasn’t practical. Also he didn’t even pay me the whole 2 days

3) lasted 3 days in a store. The area is under constant surveillance and people caught with undocumented employees get fined and closed (idk how long they get closed but can be significant). One of the days I was there an inspector went, luckily I was in the other store and nothing happened, but the owner said she didn’t want to risk the fine so she told me not to go back until I have my papers

4) this one I almost forget lol they chose me to be a telemarketer, the first week was training but we could start selling as soon as we wanted to. So I get home and Google the company name and it’s a scam, many people denounced them. They steal from the customers and don’t pay their workers. So I never actually started the “training”

And that in itself is a lot, but alas. Inflation here is nowhere near as high as Venezuela, yet still the second highest in Latin America. One week 1 USD went from being worth 20 pesos, to 25 pesos in a matter of days, meaning the pesos I had are suddenly worth less (and I had exchanged dollars like a day before ughhh). For my documents I was going to have to pay 53 USD, but those prices have raised as well (because so many immigrants + inflation) and now it’s 124 USD, and that can only be paid the day of the appointment. The new prices are starting June 5th, so that means another unexpected expense for me.

To top it all off lmao my blood pressure has been extremely high. I got it checked randomly this Sunday, because there are places that do it free here and I had the time, and they told me to go to the hospital immediately, that I was at risk for heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, etc. I felt just normal but once a nurse took my blood pressure in the hospital (he didn’t believe me when I showed him the note with 173/123) he rushed me to the doctor and they wouldn’t let me leave, ran bloodwork and an ECG. Told me I have to go in for an appointment soon. I said it’s probably the stress from immigration but he said it’s higher than it should be even if I was being threatened at gunpoint, for example. So since then I’ve had to change my diet to the extreme, it has lowered thankfully but it’s still high. And my new diet is more time consuming and a bit more expensive than what I would eat normally.

So for all these reasons I could really use your help rn, if you are able to ❤ I have no family here in Argentina, my family in Venezuela is struggling more than I am, and my irl friends here are also immigrants and still struggling as well. I will try to upload links with sources ASAP

Paypal (she later will transfer me via western union in the name of another friend, since I don’t have an Argentine ID I can’t receive anything directly):

Evelyn Martinez evelyn.martinez04@gmail.com

I need about 300 USD to hold out until I can legally work. If I’m able to find work before that, hopefully, less will do! Thanks again, even just reblogging helps ❤

[xxferret]

hey just checking in to let y’all know i’m alive and well lmao, still no tumblr app but online in other places c:

[xxferret]

Made it to Argentina yesterday! Everything’s good :)

[xxferret]

In Peru rn! Left Lima a couple hours ago, on the bus to Cusco rn, then comes Bolivia. I’ve actually enjoyed the trip a lot more than I thought I would lol, a bit of back pain but not like dyinggg plus I’ve been travelling with a friend of my mom’s who is also emigrating and his son, so he helps me watch luggage and stuff. Also in every border or sometimes around every 24-36h we change buses, (this bus I’m on rn is awesome tbh, better than planes I’ve been on lol) and the kinda annoying thing is that sometimes between buses there is a looong wait, today it was like 9-10h, and we can’t rly step away from the bus stations because there’s no specific time and we have to wait for the guides and stuff. But yesterday they took us to the beach while we waited! I literally hadn’t even seen a beach like in 7 years, also first time I saw the pacific ocean lol

[xxferret]

The little line on the left is my route! Just took off an hour ago :)

[xxferret]

Reached Ecuador today! Tomorrow Peru. I should be in Buenos Aires by Tuesday o Wednesday. WiFi is scarce lol

[xxferret]

My mom asked me to post this :)

Hello! I am Sandra, Stephanie’s mother. I just want to thank you all for your help. Even though my heart is breaking because she’s leaving I am very grateful that at least now she can start a new life. I love Venezuela but it’s just too hard to make ends meet, no matter how hard you work. I will never forget your generosity. God bless you.

[xxferret]

Gonna be leaving by the 26th tops! Waiting to see if this friend of my mom's who is also emigrating to Argentina can get a permit to take his son too, if not I'll still be going by that date but alone. I wish I could leave sooner, the power is going out every day now, several times a day sometimes for 10h at a time... I might have trouble getting my papers faster though, apparently they've disabled the express option because there were Venezuelans who don't realize they're not in Venezuela anymore, waiting in line since the night before, like people have become accustomed to do here for everything 😒. I'm hoping they have that option back by the time I'm there though, it's more money for them so I wouldn't think they'd disable that option permanently?

[xxferret]

Ok so I’m sorry to be doing this, I have tried by all means to do so on my own but the circumstances are extremely difficult and keep getting worse in Venezuela, so if it’s within your means I could really use your help to be able to emigrate. With my mother’s help we’ve managed to save over the years almost half the money I’d need to go to Argentina (700 USD), yet at the moment I’m making about 15 USD a month, which is actually quite a bit over the minimum wage here and just barely enough for us to eat, but almost nothing more.   Nobody in my neighborhood has had internet at home for about a year, because here the fiber optic cable for it was stolen and we haven’t been able to replace it, which makes it impossible for me to find extra work online and be able to earn at least a few dollars more per month. The other internet companies aren’t doing new installations either. I’ve had to cut down my work from full time to part time, earning less, because (due to the prevalence of crime and the costs of operation) the buses now only work until 7pm, and for this same reason I can’t take up a second job. The bus drivers also go on strike frequently, sometimes for long periods, and when that happens I am unable to work and risk losing my job. Even when they do work it’s still pretty terrible, I’ve been walking 1-2h a day for several months now because it takes longer to wait for the bus than to walk (I still have to take another bus, if that route stops working I’d have to walk +4h daily which frankly idk if I’m physically capable).   At the beginning of this year my mom had to shut down her coffee stand, which was a major source of our income, because the hyperinflation made it impossible to stay in business. She is now making about 5 USD per month with her regular job. This same month we had to spend the equivalent of 10 months of my income in order to get the electricity working in our house again after a cable broke (money we had saved in Colombian pesos, which will be impossible for us to recover because of hyperinflation). The economic situation is also why I was unable to graduate from college; I couldn’t afford to study anymore even though my university was public and practically free.   My mom suffers from psychotic episodes and may relapse soon because of this situation. If she does there is no medication available to treat her; if we are able to find any it will be very expensive and again we would need to cut deep into our savings. I myself have had to stop taking antidepressants because of the extreme high prices and scarcity. My mom also suffers from fibromyalgia, which is another reason I would really like to emigrate as soon as possible, so I can help support her financially and prevent her from having to do manual labor as an illegal immigrant (in Argentina it would be possible for me to work and live legally, although I have to wait about 3-4 months after arriving there for that so I’ll probably be working odd jobs until then), and also to bring her peace of mind. I’m planning to leave around March 15 by a series of buses since it’s more affordable that way, the trip takes about 12 days.   In the near future it might be impossible to leave Venezuela at all, because the borders may eventually close for good.

I’m posting this here on tumblr because I tried to make a fundraiser on youcaring but they sent me this:

“Hello Stephanie Murillo,

In accordance with guidelines provided by the United States Treasury Department, this fundraiser has been removed from YouCaring because the country you provided is part of an embargoed region. The United States Treasury Department does not allow for our platform to disburse funds directly or be routed by proxy to a state or person that is currently located in an embargoed region.”

I also can’t open a PayPal account from here nor do I know anyone who has one and could receive the money for me. But I can receive amazon gift cards, which I can then transfer to another person in Venezuela who could pay me the equivalent IRL (also benefits them since you can’t shop on amazon with Venezuelan currency).

So if you’re able to, my email for my amazon account is steph.murillo@outlook.com

Seriously, every little bit helps, even just reblogging or sharing elsewhere is greatly appreciated! If you have any questions feel free to comment or message me, I’ll keep you all updated here

[xxferret]

$585 so far, almost there! Also found a friend with PayPal who lent me her account, you can DM me here or @aferret for her info

Ok so I’m sorry to be doing this, I have tried by all means to do so on my own but the circumstances are extremely difficult and keep getting worse in Venezuela, so if it’s within your means I could really use your help to be able to emigrate. With my mother’s help we’ve managed to save over the years almost half the money I’d need to go to Argentina (700 USD), yet at the moment I’m making about 15 USD a month, which is actually quite a bit over the minimum wage here and just barely enough for us to eat, but almost nothing more.   Nobody in my neighborhood has had internet at home for about a year, because here the fiber optic cable for it was stolen and we haven’t been able to replace it, which makes it impossible for me to find extra work online and be able to earn at least a few dollars more per month. The other internet companies aren’t doing new installations either. I’ve had to cut down my work from full time to part time, earning less, because (due to the prevalence of crime and the costs of operation) the buses now only work until 7pm, and for this same reason I can’t take up a second job. The bus drivers also go on strike frequently, sometimes for long periods, and when that happens I am unable to work and risk losing my job. Even when they do work it’s still pretty terrible, I’ve been walking 1-2h a day for several months now because it takes longer to wait for the bus than to walk (I still have to take another bus, if that route stops working I’d have to walk +4h daily which frankly idk if I’m physically capable).   At the beginning of this year my mom had to shut down her coffee stand, which was a major source of our income, because the hyperinflation made it impossible to stay in business. She is now making about 5 USD per month with her regular job. This same month we had to spend the equivalent of 10 months of my income in order to get the electricity working in our house again after a cable broke (money we had saved in Colombian pesos, which will be impossible for us to recover because of hyperinflation). The economic situation is also why I was unable to graduate from college; I couldn’t afford to study anymore even though my university was public and practically free.   My mom suffers from psychotic episodes and may relapse soon because of this situation. If she does there is no medication available to treat her; if we are able to find any it will be very expensive and again we would need to cut deep into our savings. I myself have had to stop taking antidepressants because of the extreme high prices and scarcity. My mom also suffers from fibromyalgia, which is another reason I would really like to emigrate as soon as possible, so I can help support her financially and prevent her from having to do manual labor as an illegal immigrant (in Argentina it would be possible for me to work and live legally, although I have to wait about 3-4 months after arriving there for that so I’ll probably be working odd jobs until then), and also to bring her peace of mind. I’m planning to leave around March 15 by a series of buses since it’s more affordable that way, the trip takes about 12 days.   In the near future it might be impossible to leave Venezuela at all, because the borders may eventually close for good.

I’m posting this here on tumblr because I tried to make a fundraiser on youcaring but they sent me this:

“Hello Stephanie Murillo,

In accordance with guidelines provided by the United States Treasury Department, this fundraiser has been removed from YouCaring because the country you provided is part of an embargoed region. The United States Treasury Department does not allow for our platform to disburse funds directly or be routed by proxy to a state or person that is currently located in an embargoed region.”

I also can’t open a PayPal account from here nor do I know anyone who has one and could receive the money for me. But I can receive amazon gift cards, which I can then transfer to another person in Venezuela who could pay me the equivalent IRL (also benefits them since you can’t shop on amazon with Venezuelan currency).

So if you’re able to, my email for my amazon account is steph.murillo@outlook.com

Seriously, every little bit helps, even just reblogging or sharing elsewhere is greatly appreciated! If you have any questions feel free to comment or message me, I’ll keep you all updated here

[xxferret]

Ok so I’m sorry to be doing this, I have tried by all means to do so on my own but the circumstances are extremely difficult and keep getting worse in Venezuela, so if it’s within your means I could really use your help to be able to emigrate. With my mother’s help we’ve managed to save over the years almost half the money I’d need to go to Argentina (700 USD), yet at the moment I’m making about 15 USD a month, which is actually quite a bit over the minimum wage here and just barely enough for us to eat, but almost nothing more.   Nobody in my neighborhood has had internet at home for about a year, because here the fiber optic cable for it was stolen and we haven’t been able to replace it, which makes it impossible for me to find extra work online and be able to earn at least a few dollars more per month. The other internet companies aren’t doing new installations either. I’ve had to cut down my work from full time to part time, earning less, because (due to the prevalence of crime and the costs of operation) the buses now only work until 7pm, and for this same reason I can’t take up a second job. The bus drivers also go on strike frequently, sometimes for long periods, and when that happens I am unable to work and risk losing my job. Even when they do work it’s still pretty terrible, I’ve been walking 1-2h a day for several months now because it takes longer to wait for the bus than to walk (I still have to take another bus, if that route stops working I’d have to walk +4h daily which frankly idk if I’m physically capable).   At the beginning of this year my mom had to shut down her coffee stand, which was a major source of our income, because the hyperinflation made it impossible to stay in business. She is now making about 5 USD per month with her regular job. This same month we had to spend the equivalent of 10 months of my income in order to get the electricity working in our house again after a cable broke (money we had saved in Colombian pesos, which will be impossible for us to recover because of hyperinflation). The economic situation is also why I was unable to graduate from college; I couldn’t afford to study anymore even though my university was public and practically free.   My mom suffers from psychotic episodes and may relapse soon because of this situation. If she does there is no medication available to treat her; if we are able to find any it will be very expensive and again we would need to cut deep into our savings. I myself have had to stop taking antidepressants because of the extreme high prices and scarcity. My mom also suffers from fibromyalgia, which is another reason I would really like to emigrate as soon as possible, so I can help support her financially and prevent her from having to do manual labor as an illegal immigrant (in Argentina it would be possible for me to work and live legally, although I have to wait about 3-4 months after arriving there for that so I’ll probably be working odd jobs until then), and also to bring her peace of mind. I’m planning to leave around March 15 by a series of buses since it’s more affordable that way, the trip takes about 12 days.   In the near future it might be impossible to leave Venezuela at all, because the borders may eventually close for good.

I’m posting this here on tumblr because I tried to make a fundraiser on youcaring but they sent me this:

“Hello Stephanie Murillo,

In accordance with guidelines provided by the United States Treasury Department, this fundraiser has been removed from YouCaring because the country you provided is part of an embargoed region. The United States Treasury Department does not allow for our platform to disburse funds directly or be routed by proxy to a state or person that is currently located in an embargoed region.”

I also can’t open a PayPal account from here nor do I know anyone who has one and could receive the money for me. But I can receive amazon gift cards, which I can then transfer to another person in Venezuela who could pay me the equivalent IRL (also benefits them since you can’t shop on amazon with Venezuelan currency).

So if you’re able to, my email for my amazon account is steph.murillo@outlook.com

Seriously, every little bit helps, even just reblogging or sharing elsewhere is greatly appreciated! If you have any questions feel free to comment or message me, I’ll keep you all updated here

[xxferret]

hey, is there any way to buy and send Amazon gift cards without using a credit card? i don't have money at the moment, but i will by next week. i don't have a credit card though, is there another way?

Hmm I think it should have an option to change payment method and add a debit card or something? I’ve never done it before either lol

[xxferret]

so would sending an egift then be the option we choose on amazon?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201138710

If I understand correctly, you would receive the email with the gift card and forward it to my email (if anyone has sent gift cards by email before pls comment!)

[xxferret]

Ok so I’m sorry to be doing this, I have tried by all means to do so on my own but the circumstances are extremely difficult and keep getting worse in Venezuela, so if it’s within your means I could really use your help to be able to emigrate. With my mother’s help we’ve managed to save over the years almost half the money I’d need to go to Argentina (700 USD), yet at the moment I’m making about 15 USD a month, which is actually quite a bit over the minimum wage here and just barely enough for us to eat, but almost nothing more.   Nobody in my neighborhood has had internet at home for about a year, because here the fiber optic cable for it was stolen and we haven’t been able to replace it, which makes it impossible for me to find extra work online and be able to earn at least a few dollars more per month. The other internet companies aren’t doing new installations either. I’ve had to cut down my work from full time to part time, earning less, because (due to the prevalence of crime and the costs of operation) the buses now only work until 7pm, and for this same reason I can’t take up a second job. The bus drivers also go on strike frequently, sometimes for long periods, and when that happens I am unable to work and risk losing my job. Even when they do work it’s still pretty terrible, I’ve been walking 1-2h a day for several months now because it takes longer to wait for the bus than to walk (I still have to take another bus, if that route stops working I’d have to walk +4h daily which frankly idk if I’m physically capable).   At the beginning of this year my mom had to shut down her coffee stand, which was a major source of our income, because the hyperinflation made it impossible to stay in business. She is now making about 5 USD per month with her regular job. This same month we had to spend the equivalent of 10 months of my income in order to get the electricity working in our house again after a cable broke (money we had saved in Colombian pesos, which will be impossible for us to recover because of hyperinflation). The economic situation is also why I was unable to graduate from college; I couldn’t afford to study anymore even though my university was public and practically free.   My mom suffers from psychotic episodes and may relapse soon because of this situation. If she does there is no medication available to treat her; if we are able to find any it will be very expensive and again we would need to cut deep into our savings. I myself have had to stop taking antidepressants because of the extreme high prices and scarcity. My mom also suffers from fibromyalgia, which is another reason I would really like to emigrate as soon as possible, so I can help support her financially and prevent her from having to do manual labor as an illegal immigrant (in Argentina it would be possible for me to work and live legally, although I have to wait about 3-4 months after arriving there for that so I’ll probably be working odd jobs until then), and also to bring her peace of mind. I’m planning to leave around March 15 by a series of buses since it’s more affordable that way, the trip takes about 12 days.   In the near future it might be impossible to leave Venezuela at all, because the borders may eventually close for good.

I’m posting this here on tumblr because I tried to make a fundraiser on youcaring but they sent me this:

“Hello Stephanie Murillo,

In accordance with guidelines provided by the United States Treasury Department, this fundraiser has been removed from YouCaring because the country you provided is part of an embargoed region. The United States Treasury Department does not allow for our platform to disburse funds directly or be routed by proxy to a state or person that is currently located in an embargoed region.”

I also can’t open a PayPal account from here nor do I know anyone who has one and could receive the money for me. But I can receive amazon gift cards, which I can then transfer to another person in Venezuela who could pay me the equivalent IRL (also benefits them since you can’t shop on amazon with Venezuelan currency).

So if you’re able to, my email for my amazon account is steph.murillo@outlook.com

Seriously, every little bit helps, even just reblogging or sharing elsewhere is greatly appreciated! If you have any questions feel free to comment or message me, I’ll keep you all updated here