In the Venezuela of scarcity, the adolescent Andrés López challenges precariousness with ingenuity.
He is only 14 years old, but skill to spare. With his hands he assembles flip flops, 'cholas', as he calls them, using discarded materials. For the sole it uses tire rubber.
First quarte, then mold. Sews with needles drawn from women's heels. It is painstaking work. «There were people here, in Ciudad Bolívar, who already did them. But they were crooked. They fit me straight, ”he says, with satisfaction.
Ciudad Bolívar is the capital of the state of Bolívar, located in the southeast of Venezuela. Like most of the country, the city suffers the ravages of inflation, lack of foreign exchange, insecurity and shortage of basic products.
It was in this context that López, a product of chance, necessity and above all talent, invented an idea to help his family overcome the daily difficulties of the South American nation.
It all started out of an oversight. Andrés López lost his flip flops and there was no money to buy new ones. He lives with his mother, his 17-year-old brother, and his grandfather.
The mother's name is Carla Cabrera and she cannot work because she suffers from severe anemia and must stay home. So I took some rubber to make some for myself.
They looked good and I thought I could sell them, ”says the teenager. "As a result of my illness, the boy was encouraged to sell cholas," says his mother. The decision was caused by family difficulties in obtaining cash and buying food.
Creativity and craftsmanship was inherited by Andrés from his grandfather, a Spanish carpenter who kept his workshop next to the house. Grandfather and grandson spent several hours together and Andrés thus learned to use his hands; chop, assemble, invent.
The boy used to look for the discarded rubber there, near the neighborhood, but lately it is scarce and now he has to buy it or change a few meters for some of the cholas.
«I take the sole and the thread out of the rubber. I pull the needles out of the back of the women's heels. I grab it, polish it and make a point, "he describes. The lack of foreign exchange is such in Venezuela that, at the beginning, sometimes I did not receive money for the flip flops.
He had to settle for bartering. "He exchanged them for flour or other food, although I insisted that he always try to sell them so that he could also buy something for himself," says Cabrera.
Although Andrés's ingenious idea has progressed positively, it requires money to buy more materials that allow him to offer a greater variety and it also requires attending to the illness that Andres's mother suffers.
Please collaborate with him. Here you have available the means through which you can donate. Let us help this humble family that is trying to cope with the harsh crisis we are experiencing.
Here are the addresses to contribute
Paypal: embooks27@gmail.com
Also in this blog you can find several links to make your donations.
For contributions in Bitcoin:
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