Luisito must have surgery for a brain tumor that paralyzes part of his body, but he acquired chickenpox in a children's hospital in Caracas and must wait. In another room, Yuriángela does not know if she will have her next chemotherapy to fight cancer.

Next to Luis, a 4-month-old baby with macrocephaly sleeps. A mosquito net tries to protect it from infection. His head is as big as a basketball because of the accumulated fluid and he needs a drain valve that the hospital does not have.

The shortage of medicines, which according to the Pharmaceutical Federation reaches 80%, and that of medical supplies, make up one of the most critical problems during the current government of Venezuela.

In the room of Luis there is also Anthony Noguera, of seven years. It has a hole in the back because of an operating wound that is growing. Neither the medical center nor the pharmacies have healing patches, which must be imported and paid in dollars, which is impossible due to the situation and the low salary.

They are only available in dollars, his grandmother María Silva told the bitcoincashvenezuela team. "We do not have. We are between the sword and the wall, "she added resignedly.

The cases could easily be solved if medicines and supplies were imported, says Édgar Sotillo, the doctor who treats them at the José Manuel de los Ríos children's hospital in downtown Caracas.

"We do not have medicine. We are seeing chicken pox, tuberculosis, malaria, scabies. The hospital sometimes does not have water. If patients are infected, there are no antibiotics and they get complicated, "he explained.

The struggle to live

Luisito was taken first to a hospital in Valencia (north) when he stopped moving an arm.

"But it was a month without doing anything because there are no medications there. We can not buy them separately, even to drink water I have to ask", said the bitcoincashvenezuela team Ingrid Saavedra, the child's grandmother.

On a table there is a small container with scrambled eggs, the only meal of the day offered by the hospital.

Yuriángela, 16, has no time. Along with other children with cancer, decompensated in a cold room while receiving chemotherapy for lung metastasis.

His mother, Suger Najme, cries because he does not know how he will get the next treatment. The lack of medicines reaches 95% in chronic diseases such as cancer.

"17 chemists are missing. Several medications are scarce, we have to start our fight again. I had to buy them outside. We do not have the resources, but we have received help", he said.

At her side, four-year-old Luana Rojas cuts out the letters of the alphabet while receiving treatment for a brainstem glioma.

We were two months without getting chemotherapy. This is the responsibility of the governors who only take us into account when "we protest", his mother, Rosa González, told the bitcoincashvenezuela team.

In the area of ​​oncology, the equipment of tomography, magnetic resonance and radiotherapy are damaged.

Doctors leave

In Venezuela, there are frequent demonstrations for lack of medicines and supplies, which the government imports less and less after the collapse of prices and the production of oil, a source of 96% of foreign currency.

In the José Manuel de los Ríos hospital there are no reagents for blood tests, there are broken pipes, a single elevator works and "mice and cockroaches" walk the corridors, according to doctors.

"We can not operate because supplies are missing. There are patients who have improved, but due to lack of medication, they get complicated and die", said a doctor under anonymity.

Belén Arteaga, head of Nephrology, confessed that she barely earns a minimum salary: 2.5 million bolivars, 3 dollars a change, which is not enough for some pain pills.

Last year, Bethlehem saw four children die for lack of antibiotics.

"The doctors are leaving. We had three residents, two were left: one salary was not enough to pay for the room in which he lived, the other left the country", he said.

According to the Venezuelan Medical Society, 30% of medical personnel have emigrated. Infant mortality increased 30.12% in 2016 compared to 2015 (11,466 deaths of children under one year), according to the latest official figure.

Huniades Urbina, head of the Society of Childcare and Pediatrics, says that has increased. "We have a humanitarian crisis, figures from sub-Saharan Africa", he lamented.

Our objetive

Our goal as a bch team is to raise $10,000 in the next 15 days so that children can quickly start their treatments especially children with cancer and thus avoid more complications in children.