Dear Members, Supporters and Interested Parties

I met Dr. Carina Vetye by chance during a trip to Buenos Aires in 2014. Her work and her commitment to the Villa Zagala slum impressed me enormously: the slum pharmacy established by Carina is the only access to medication that the thousands of people who live there have. In addition, Carina and her team help patients to follow the medical treatment prescribed to them and provide education on topics such as nutrition, hygiene, dental care and contraception. In doing so, they make an important contribution to health and prevention.

In addition to the enormous everyday difficulties that Carina has to deal with, financing this free basic health care for the poorest is also a huge challenge. Although the pharmacy and the affiliated health center receive support from the authorities, a local private foundation and the international aid organization “Pharmacists Without Borders”, there is a lack of funding at every turn. Uncertain political and economic developments as well as crime further endanger its stability.

That is why I decided to support Carina from that moment on. In November 2014, I organized a first charity lunch for her, during which she gave an impressive introduction to the work she does and spoke convincingly about the urgency thereof. Subsequently, I started to build up a group of supporters – the “Friends of Carina” – consisting of friends and acquaintances. We also succeeded in involving celebrities, such as Dieter Meier. Some of our supporters have visited Carina at the pharmacy, and they were all as impressed as I was.

Together, it is now our goal to further develop “Friends of Carina” as an association and to expand it with additional members. The focus here is not on size, but on stability and the long term. We are also very grateful for spontaneous contributions.

Every donation goes directly to Dr. Carina Vetye’s slum pharmacy because the work she and her team do every day is extremely important. Equally important is that the people in Villa Zagala feel that they have not been completely forgotten.

Thank you very much for your support!