Thanks goes to journalist Karen Wald and Cuba-based writer and anthropologist Susan Hurlich for resources used on this website.
Cuba's turn to receive help Cubans lack money. They instead measure wealth in terms of human capital: doctors, teachers, scientists and technicians. When disaster strikes around the world, Cuba immediately responds with human assistance – perhaps the most crucial. The day after 911, Cuba offered battalions of emergency workers to help. When Katrina swamped New Orleans, 1,586 Cuban doctors volunteered to assist. In both cases G.W. Bush denied their entry into the US. Cubans felt bad they couldn't be with their US sisters and brothers to help save lives and rebuild. In this spirit, they went to other countries where their aid was needed and embraced. |
| View YouTube video of damage. Good visuals en español. |
This website is current at . Cuba Education Tours believes the best way to help islanders is to visit them in their hour of need. In doing so you provide both monetary and moral support. Because tourism is nationalized it benefits all Cubans directly. If you can't travel now, consider a tax-deductible donation to an organization that ensures all of your contribution gets to the people.
Thousands of schools, hospitals, factories and other facilities have been wrecked. Most of this year's food crops have been lost to wind and floods. Much of the electrical and communication grid is damaged. The list of destruction goes on and on.Don't fret. You can help. Cuba Education Tours endorses the following organizations who ensure islanders most in need will receive your tax-deductible donation. If you're traveling to Cuba or have materials to donate, click here for what to send, how to prepare it, and who can help get it there.
Why support from Canadians for Cuba is needed now! On 9 September 2008, the government of Canada announced it would contribute $600,000 for hurricane relief to be shared by Haiti, Jamaica and Cuba. This is amounts to just over two-and-a-half pennies per person. Canada spends 130 thousand dollars an hour on its war against Afghanistan. |
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 Sept 9 Old Havana Elderly people rest in a convent's shelter after being evacuated prior to Ike's attack. REUTERS/Claudia Daut ENLARGE |
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 Sept 10 Central Havana Community members and utility workers begin cleanup. REUTERS/Stringer ENLARGE |
 Sept 9 Villa Clara Building collapsed after Ike's strong winds and rain. REUTERS/AIN/Arelys Maria Echevarria ENLARGE |
The CNC is Canada's national Cuba solidarity organization (of which Cuba Education Tours is a proud member). The CNC ensures 100% of your donation is received by the Cuban people, and is tax deductible.
Send cheques and make payable to:
Mackenzie-Papineau Memorial Fundc/o Sharon Skup, Treasurer56 Riverwood TerraceBolton, Ontario L7E 1S4 CanadaCheque memo: For Cuba Hurricane ReliefInclude your name, address and phone number so a tax receipt can be issued. Mackenzie-Papineau Memorial Fund is a registered charitable organization, No. 88876-9197.
Click here to read the CNC's Cuba hurricane relief appeal letter.
 Sept 10 Havana Tree toppled by Ike. REUTERS/Stringer ENLARGE |
CoDev is a British Columbia nonprofit organization working for social change and global education in the Americas. CoDev ensures 100% of all donations will be sent directly to Cuban teachers' and public service unions to assist with reconstruction efforts. CoDev issues tax receipts for donations over $20.
Send cheques and make payable to:
CoDevelopment Canada260 - 2747 East Hastings StreetVancouver, BC V5K 1Z8 CanadaCheque memo: Cuba HurricaneCoDev also accepts Visa credit card donations by telephone at 604-708-1495.
Online donations can be made via the CoDev website. See Canada Helps.
Download MSWord files: CoDev's Cuba hurricane appeal letter and its Cuba hurricane update letter.
Why support from the people of the United States for Cuba is needed now! On 9 September 2008, G.W. Bush cynically announced Washington would contribute $100,000 for hurricane relief to Cuba. This amounts to less than a penny per Cuban. His offer came with strings attached including a USAID inspection crew requiring access to island sites and institutions. Cuba declined. Washington spends 14.2 million dollars an hour on its war against Iraq. |
| Links to other US groups providing hurricane help to the Cuban people |
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Catholic Relief Services |
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Jewish Solidarity |
| Online petitions supporting aid to Cuba and ending the blockade | |
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Assistance to Cuban Hurricane Victims: Temporarily End the US Blockade of Cuba |
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ANSWER: End the Blockade and Provide Hurricane Relief |
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 Sept 9 Ciego de Avila Residents inspect damage following Ike rampage. REUTERS/AIN/Oswaldo Gutierrez ENLARGE |
 Sept 8 Camagüey Cuban soldiers assist people evacuating flooded streets. REUTERS/AIN/Rodolfo Blanco Cue ENLARGE |
IFCO is an interfaith ministry founded in 1967 by church leaders and community activists to advance sustainable communities and human rights in Latin America. The organization works for an end to the US economic blockade of Cuba and provides direct humanitarian aid to the Cuban people through annual Friendshipment Caravans, construction brigades and educational delegations. Hurricane relief donations via IFOC are tax deductible and all monies go directly to the island.
Send checks and make payable to:
IFCO/Pastors for Peace418 West 145th StreetNew York, NY 10031 USACheck memo: Hurricane Relief(Do not use the word "Cuba" on your check as US banks will seize funds.)Online donations can also be made at the IFCO/Pastors for Peace website. (Do not use the word "Cuba" in the online donations form as US banks will seize funds.)
JOIN THE IFCO/PASTORS FOR PEACE CUBA CONSTRUCTION BRIGADE
IFCO/Pastors for Peace as launched a Cuba Construction Brigade. Fifty skilled carpenters, electricians, plumbers and crafts people are needed to go to Cuba for two weeks to assist in rebuilding and repair of schools, hospitals, clinics and old folks homes. To join, visit the IFCO website, call 212-926-5757, fax 212-926-5842 or email Manolo E. De Los Santos, Project Coordinator.
 Sept 9 Havana Rubble, foreground, is all left of building razed by Ike. REUTERS/Claudia Daut ENLARGE |
MEDICC is a nonprofit organization working to enhance cooperation among the US, Cuban and global health communities aimed at better health outcomes. MEDICC supports education and development of human resources in health committed to equitable access and quality care, providing the Cuban experience to inform global debate, practice, policies and cooperation in health.
MEDICC is seeking financial donations to replenish stocks of key medical reference books lost at the badly damaged Isle of Youth Medical School, where over 2,000 young Cubans study medicine and public health. 100% of your contributions go to Cuba and are tax deductible.
Send checks and make payable to:
MEDICC1902 Clairmont Road, Suite 250Decatur, GA 30033 USACheck memo: Hurricane Fund(Do not use the word "Cuba" on your check as US banks will seize funds.)MEDICC accepts online donations. Mark the "Textbooks and Journals to Cuban Medical Schools" program, which is tax deductible. For more information call Program Manager Murlean Tucker at 678-904-8091 or email her.
Since 1994, the Disarm Cuban Medical Project has worked to combat the effects of the US embargo against Cuba on the health of the Cuban people and to advocate for a change in US policy, delivering more than $75 million worth of desperately needed medicines and medical supplies to the island, and benefiting more than 2 million people. They are committed to supplying sixty Cuban hospitals and community clinics – twenty in Havana and fourty in the countryside – with supplies ranging from such desperately needed basics as aspirin, insulin, gauze pads, and syringes, to the most advanced treatments for pediatric cancer and AIDS.
Global Links' program of medical aid to Cuba program began in 1994 at the request of the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO). It is a federally licensed humanitarian aid project. Material aid they send to Cuba received and distributed to health institutions by the PAHO/WHO office in Havana and the Cuban Ministry of Health. Global Links has received a list of requested products from PAHO and is raising funds to purchase and send them to Cuba.
