Venezuelan children express hunger in drawings
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When children at a Catholic-run school in a poor neighborhood of Venezuela's Caracas capital began fainting from hunger, teachers asked them to draw or describe their most recent meals and what they expected to eat next.
The responses were shocking.
The student wrote, that day ate nothing for breakfast; had bread, butter and water for lunch and had nothing for dinner. The student said that lasagna and cake were their favourite dishes.
The student wrote, that day had a corn cake and soda.
The student wrote, that yesterday and that day ate bread for breakfast; yesterday had sardine with yucca for lunch and butter and water for lunch and had nothing for dinner. The student said that lasagna and cake were their favourite dishes.
The child drew corn cake with egg, and the teacher wrote that the child didn't have any breakfast.
Teacher wrote a "X" for the meals that the student missed.
The studetn wrote: "For breakfast, lunch and dinner I had corn cake with cheese."
The student wrote, that day ate bread with water, soup with water and corn cake.
The student wrote: "Just spaghetti".
The student wrote, that day ate corn cake with egg for breakfast; had bread with chicken for lunch and bread and ham for dinner.
The student wrote, that day ate cooked plantain for breakfast; had soup with fried plantain and passion fruit juice for lunch and mango and a cookie for dinner.
Story
Due to the faltering socialist economy and the plunge in global oil prices, Venezuela has been in recession since early 2014. It suffers from the world's highest inflation and is experiencing shortages of basic goods, from milk to medicines.
Huge lines at shops and pharmacies are now the norm, and hungry residents are quickly stripping the nation's lush mango, coconut and papaya trees.
