Among the many disappearing items in Venezuela today, the one that worries the most:  talented young people.

Slowly, we have learned to deal with the other shortages in our lives (i.e. almost everything that is simultaneously essential and hoard-able). What choice do we have if we are to survive?

No corn flour? Grow some. Grind some. No oil. Boil everything. No cooking gas? Gather some firewood. No sugar? Grate a block of raw sugar cane.  No cash at the banks? Trade food with a friend over the fence. No dog food? Cook vegetable scraps. No coffee? Simmer some lemongrass (hmm.. that one is definitely NOT satisfactory).

Some say we are healthier because of this food crisis.  We are eating real food.  We are growing lots of it ourselves. Diabetes and high blood pressure are being purged from our collective bodies. At our best moments we tease that we might just be probably the healthiest nation on the planet. 

Of course, it's not so simple. We are exhausted. And skinny. As I look at my neighbor taking up yet another belt notch to keep his pants from falling to his ankles, I know that malnutrition, then hunger, are only steps. away.  

It's been a testimony to parental love to see   my adult neighbors have all dropped 10, 20, 30  (or more) kilos, while their kids more or less stay the same. (One neighbor tells me that there are many days when he just eats a baby's portion of food - just enough to keep alive - so that the kids will have enough, )

But the rapid disappearance of our young people from our communities is what most worries me, and tugs at my heart. 

I don't have to look far. My own three adult children who grew up in Venezuela and love their country with a passion, have left. The last one to throw in the towel ( for the moment) is my middle son: a talented chef. But trying to set up a restaurant in a nation with no food is like trying to open a water park in the Sahara. 

They are far from alone. 

Statistics are hard to come by, but many estimate that over 2 million Venezuelans have left over the past year or two. That is close to 10% of the population and a much larger proportion of those in their 20's and 30's. The photo on the top of the page was taken of my daughter with her closest friends a few years ago. I realize that 5 of these 6 young women have now settled outside of Venezuela. 

 In addition to my kids, most of their friends have left, and most of the friends of friends. Auto mechanics, graphic designers, doctors, musicians, psychologists, dental students, filmmakers. That is just the list of young people I know personally who have left in the past month.  They have scattered mostly to other countries in the Americas: Panama, the Dominican Republic, Colombia, Argentina, Ecuador, Uruguay., Chile. 

With most salaries i Venezuela currently under $100 per month (including professionals) it's hard not to look elsewhere. Add to that the grueling task of finding food. I've finally come to the conclusion that it takes less stress (albeit more energy)  to grow my own food than search for it in stores. But I have land to do so, which is not the case for most.

This story of mass migration is hardly even a story for many places across the Americas.

But it is a new story for Venezuela, a country that had been the destination of immigrants from around the Americas , Europe and Middle East for decades. Venezuela opened its home and heart to those fleeing military dictatorships, wars, and economic travesties around the globe.   I'm one of the many who was taken in my these big-hearted and generous people. 

Today I was saddened to learn about a march planned in Panama this week to reject Venezuelan immigrants. The main complaint, according to the invitation to march, seems to be regarding the abundance of arepas and tequeños (Venezuelan soul food) now being sold on Panamanian streets.

I can't help but wonder how many Panamanians received free eye surgery thanks to Venezuela, or cheap Venezuelan oil to power their cars.  Venezuela under Chavez oozed solidarity for its neighbors in the Americas and around the globe.

Some young people are opting to stay, even when presented with possibilities of moving on. Stay tuned for my next blog post, when I'll share some of their stories, that fill me with hope 

But for now I'll allow myself to mourn the loss of so many vibrant, talented, motivated young people who are leaving Venezuela in droves, giving the best years of their lives to other lands. 

And I"ll pray that my adopted nation  may find reprieve from this storm and set a course that works for all its citizens so that our young and talented youth may return before their  roots sink too deep in other foreign soils. Meanwhile, I send my support to all Venezuelans living in all corners of the world. Please share the best of who we are: fun, generous, loving, hard working and forever in need of an arepa or tequeño.