Dear friends,

I, like many others no doubt, had been wondering how to send financial donations to support the excellent work of the Cuban medical brigades in Haiti. I called the Cuban embassy to inquire and received a positive call from them today. I also received an email this afternoon from the Hamilton Friendship Association with Cuba, which conveyed the same good news. Yes! We can indeed donate money to support Cuba's medical brigades in Haiti and, if this matters to you, we even get a tax receipt. The material is appended below.

All of the money will go to support the 300+ Cuban medical personnel who had already been working in Haiti for years before the earthquake. Plus, Cuba sent additional doctors and supplies immediately after the quake (before the US took control of Haiti's main airport). There are also 500 Haitian doctors in Haiti who were trained -- free of charge -- in Cuba! (In striking contrast, there are many more Haitian doctors than that working in Canada who were encouraged to leave their country and come here by the Canadian government. (It's called the "brain drain" and it is one part of the problem now being faced by Haitians in need.)

I hope you will consider supporting Cuba's exemplary humanitarian relief efforts in Haiti by donating to the charity described in the letter below. Please encourage others to do likewise!

In solidarity,
Richard Sanders
Coordinator, Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade (COAT)
http://coat.ncf.ca
...............
CNC's Cuba for Haiti Fund
The Hamilton Friendship Association with Cuba (HFAC) is pleased to forward the letter below from the Canadian Network on Cuba (CNC) announcing the launching of the Cuba for Haiti campaign. This campaign will raise urgently needed funds so as to provide humanitarian aid to the people of Haiti after the earthquakes they have faced that have caused great human loss and devastated large parts of the country. The HFAC calls on all Canadians with a humanitarian striving to provide such assistance to do so through this fund which can be trusted to deliver the needed aid.

All Out in Humanitarian Support for the People of Haiti!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Canadian Network on Cuba
www.canadiannetworkoncuba.ca

January 18, 2010

Dear Friends,
...............

Cuba has an unequalled record in helping people in crises such as the earthquake in Pakistan and natural disasters in many other countries. In fact it has set up a special emergency unit, the Henry Reeve Medical Brigade, to respond to such disasters.
............................

We believe that this kind of unprecedented and invaluable help which Cuba has been giving Haiti for eleven years deserves to be supported as strongly as possible. The CNC urges you to support Cuba in this work by giving a donation to “The Mackenzie-Papineau Memorial Fund,” indicating on your cheque’s memo line “Cuba for Haiti”.

Charitable receipts will be issued by the Mackenzie-Papineau Memorial Fund (Charitable Org - Revenue Canada Reg, #88876 9197RR0001).

Your donation should be mailed to:

The Mackenzie-Papineau Memorial Fund &
Friends of the Mac-Pap Battalion, Int'l Brigades
Att: S. Skup
56 Riverwood Terrace
Bolton, ON L7E 1S4

The “Cuba for Haiti” contributions will go into a special account, ensuring that 100% of all donations are used for medical support and aid to Haiti. We are working directly with The Cuban Embassy in Ottawa and the Consulate General in Toronto.

Sincerely,
Isaac Saney, CNC Co-chair & and National Spokesperson,
Tamara Hansen, CNC Co-Chair
Keith Ellis, CNC Coordinator “Cuba for Haiti”
.......................

From the Cuban Support Group - Ireland:

There are 344 Cuban medics working in Haiti today, they have two improvised
hospitals where they are providing services to the earthquake victims. Only
two of them were injured in the earthquake, both of whom have received
treatment for minor injuries and remain there to assist the disaster
victims.

Cuban doctors are working in all 10 "departments" (administrative regions)
of Haiti. They are assisted by over 400 Haitian medical doctors and interns
who have completed medical degrees on full scholarships in Cuba.

Cuba has provided free public health care to the poor of Haiti since 1989 -
the only public medicine available in that country. During the recent coup
and subsequent US/French/Canadian invasion which deposed the Aristide
presidency, Cuban doctors continued to provide medical care when other
hospitals closed down and other doctors fled the country.

The Cuban government has offered condolences to the people of Haiti and
pledged immediate additional medical assistance if the Haitian government
requires it.

Cuba's "Henry Reeve Contingent", a volunteer contingent of 1,000 medics,
fully equipped and entirely self sustaining for 30 days, can land on any
airstrip in the world at 72 hours notice. Haiti is 32 miles from Cuba -
members of the Henry Reeve Contingent (were) there within hours of a
request.

Cuban doctors will go where no doctor has gone before, live in conditions
that no doctor has ever lived in before and deliver life saving medical care
to people who have never even seen a doctor before. And they do all this
for free. Each doctor feels privileged to be able to use their skills to
help people who are in such desperate need of medical care. 35,000 Cuban
medics currently provide healthcare in 78 countries around the world, more
than the World Health Organisation and Medecins sans Frontiers put together.

Cuban doctors have unique experience of working in earthquake zones in third
world countries without infrastructure. There are Cuban medics currently
working on the frozen slopes of the Himalayas in Pakistan following their
unmatched medical support provided during the 2005 Pakistan earthquake.
Many hiked for days over mudslides to reach the isolated communities of the
region to deliver medical assistance. To this day, Pakistani parents in
the earthquake region name their children after the Cuban doctors who helped
deliver them.