A mesage from José, cofounder of eatBCH

Hi, I’m José from eatBCH

I hope you have been doing great and staying safe during this unprecedented time and I wish that all of you and your loved ones stay safe. Maybe you have lost your job or a loved one, but we hope that you’ll get through. I send my best wishes to all of you in these very tough times.

Today I want to give you a quick rundown on our work and Flipstarter for the next 6 months, both in Venezuela as in south Sudan, to let you know how we have managed and planned to manage this situation during a pandemic and lockdowns.

One of the things that pushed me to start eatBCH was seeing people around me different. They were no longer the neighbors that I remembered when I was a kid playing football with them on the street. The best way I can describe it to you is, they looked grey. At quick glance they look okay, they had their houses, cars, clothes, and phones. They had jobs, and went to work like they always did from 9 to 5. But something was starting to lack: food. They started to struggle to make ends meet. They were shells of their former self.

Over the years Venezuela has suffered one of the biggest economic crises in modern history. Imagine your current salary(hopefully you’re one of the lucky ones that still earns a salary), despite your currency having extra zeros, being worth the equivalent of $20 per month, then $10, then $5, then less than $5, per month.

Your job was the same as it always was, didn’t matter if you were a university teacher, a doctor or an engineer. I’ve met many engineers that became cab drivers since they earned more doing that than working in a office.

How they even survive? They barely do. Why are they still working with that salary? Many don’t, many of those that could, left the country already. That explains why over 10% of the population have left Venezuela in the past few years.

Of those that are still here, they depend on their loved ones’ salaries from abroad. What happens then when a pandemic and lockdowns strike, leaving people without their jobs globally?

Now there are more and more shells walking around aimlessly, risking prison and their health by hustling everyday to try and provide for their family. But when nobody can afford to buy your service because they too are struggling, then there’s not much to do left. This same thing could be said for South Sudan too, while having to add an ongoing civil war.

I’ve been contacted by a record number of people looking for food, but it has been very difficult to help them all since eatBCH has been very low on funds for a while now. We had to size down from over 20 locations nationwide to 8, then 4 because of lockdowns.

Even during quarantine, we have still managed to do our work and give meals or food bags to thousands each month. Because of restrictions, many of our locations have stopped giving hot meals directly to those in need and instead are delivering food bags door-to-door. But when we thought it couldn’t get worse, it did. Lockdowns have been extremely severe, millions are jobless, and now there is a severe shortage of gasoline that has wrecked supply chains all across the country. Prices have soared and people are unable to feed themselves more than ever.

eatBCH has showcased Bitcoin Cash as a borderless, high-utility, and easy-to-use currency during the few years we have been helping communities across two nations. Since the moment we started this project, we chose Bitcoin Cash because it is a permissionless cryptocurrency with low fees, fast transactions and a bright future. EatBCH has given a good image to the Bitcoin Cash community globally by being featured on high profile [sites like Forbes](https://www.forbes.com/sites/astanley/2018/07/11/more-cryptocurrency-transfers-needed-to-aid-struggling-venezuelans-think-tank-urges/#24a8e32499fa), and locally by giving people a taste of financial freedom. We have put a lot of effort to make BCH known to the general population and merchants, [here is a tweet of our first time doing so](https://twitter.com/eatBCH_VE/status/1022649122921373696). Before the lockdowns began we assembled a small crew to help with onboarding, but right now we haven’t made the merchants public since most are closed due to the lockdowns. Ultimately our intention is for all merchants in our support network to work directly with BCH, establishing a local loophole economy and improving the situation for all.

This is why we are coming to you with a special proposal. During 2 years we have been helping people in the worst situations in the world, facing hyperinflation and even a civil war. The pandemic and lockdowns are making everything worse, so people are in need of your help more than ever. Please consider supporting all those thousands of people who eagerly wait a meal or a food bag each week, a meal and food bag you give. And to continue to support our work to establish a perfect crypto loop in both countries.

eatBCH has two objectives for this campaign:

1. For six months, help feed regular people in South Sudan and Venezuela who are struggling with economic disruption due to heavy Corona virus restrictions and terrible inflation.

2. Give Bitcoin Cash a good name by our activities and encourage the eatBCH supply network to use BCH.

The total cost for six months of deliverables is 117.4 BCH, about USD 35,220.

You can access the Flipstarter campaign here: https://flipstarter.eatbch.org/

We hope that you can support us in the same way you have done so since the very moment we started, and continue to prove that Bitcoin Cash can be used to solve real lives problems that are plaguing Venezuela and South Sudan, by being a useful, border-less, and sound money.

From the bottom of our hearts we, and the thousands of people you will help, appreciate your support. Thank you.