CORNWALL, Ontario – Karla Ojeda has fled hardship in her home country of Venezuela. Now thanks, to some help from the Cornwall Rotary Club, Karla is getting a post-secondary education in Canada.
On Saturday, Dec. 1, 2018, Carla and the Cornwall Rotary Club held a Venezuelan Dinner Fundraiser at CCVS. Karla herself picked out the food and cooked it with the help of volunteers.
Food included a pulled-beef with white rice dish, along with ice cream and mango sauce for dessert.
Karla originally came to Canada to study at CCVS through the Rotary Exchange Program. Upon returning to her home country of Venezuela, Karla had found that the economic and political situation there had become much worse.
“Many schools were closed,” she said. “There were high school students teaching elementary school students. More than five million people have fled the country.”
Karla explained that when she left Venezuela that the price of a can of Coke was $80 American, but when she returned, it was over $800.
Her university closed, and her safety began to come into jeopardy.
Karla’s friends in the Rotary Club heard of her plight and helped her return to Canada.
“We helped her come here on a student visa,” said Bette Miller of the Rotary Club. “Carla is a good student, and a good student becomes a part of her host family and her Rotary family.”
Karla is now taking a Social Services program at St. Lawrence College in Cornwall, and the fundraiser on Saturday night was meant to help raise money to help with her tuition and other student fees.
In addition to ticket sales, there was also a painting made by a Venezuelan painter based in Ottawa up for a draw. After the meal, Karla, with the help of a Costa Rican volunteer, taught guests how to do a Latin dance.
In all, the Rotary Club hoped to raise $3,000 for Karla through this fundraiser.
