Forward from mart. WORKER TO WORKER CANADA-CUBA LABOUR SOLIDARITY NETWORK CUBA HURRICANE RELIEF APPEAL
PLEASE DISTRIBUTE! PLEASE CONTRIBUTE! =========================================== ----- Original Message ----- From: St. Catharines & District Labour Council [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, September 16, 2004 9:25 PM Subject: Support for Cuba -hurricanes WORKER TO WORKER CANADA-CUBA LABOUR SOLIDARITY NETWORK 416-431-5498 September 13, 2004 Dear Friends, As you doubtless know, Cuba is among the countries that are seriously affected by the spate of hurricanes wreaking havoc in the Caribbean. Hurricane Charley smashed into Cuba's most densely populated areas in the province of Havana and the City of Havana on August 13, developing the force of a category 4 hurricane. Thanks to the defensive measures taken by the authorities, the loss of life was limited to four people. Animal life was also effectively protected. Nevertheless, the material damage was great, amounting to more than one billion dollars in the destruction of houses, schools, hospitals, agri�cultural crops, factories, electrical and communications systems, and so on. Just as Cuba was attempting to recover from all this damage, Hurricane Ivan paid it a terrible visit, with its category 5 winds (the highest category) and its torrential rains. The international community has been slow to give meaningful assistance to Cuba. The U.S. offered $50,000 (the equivalent of $68,000 CAN), attaching conditions that were an affront to Cuba's sovereignty and that in any case seemed hypocritical from a country that has imposed an ever-tightening embargo on the island and denies Cuba access to institutions that provide credit or grants. The traditional European allies of the U.S. have tended to follow the U.S. lead. Canada has made a respectful small contribution, but much more is needed to help Cuba recover. A Hurricane Relief Fund for Cuba has been established and is being administered by the Canadian Network for Cuba. In inviting you to donate to the Fund, we ask that you consider Cuba's extraordinary record of generosity to people throughout the world who are in dire need of the most basic services. The island's highly educated people are dedicating their skills and their inventions to improve the health, education and general human development of people in more than sixty countries. For example, in Haiti, Cuban doctors and other medical personnel are serving the greater part of the population and have reduced the infant mortality rate from 120 to 70 per 1000 live births and halved the maternal mortality rate. Cuba has treated free of charge in Cuba more than 17,000 children injured by the Chernobyl nuclear accident. In recent months Cuban doctors have restored the eyesight of 200.000Venezuelans who suffered from cataracts. It has established a Latin American School of Medicine in Cuba, where 8,000 students from the Americas, including 63 from the United States, are studying free of charge. Cuba also makes drugs, such as the retroviral drugs to fight AIDS, and vaccines, such as the vaccine against cholera, that it has developed and made available free of charge or at low prices to Third World countries. In addition, Cuba has developed the most effective method known for teaching people to read and write, and is applying it throughout the world. In the six months to the end of August, Cuban teachers freed more than one million Venezuelans from illiteracy. The Maori people of New Zealand are other beneficiaries of Cuban teachers and their method. The need for funds to recover from the hurricanes is urgent. We aim to forward to Cuba an initial contribution of $68,000 by mid October. We hope that in this hour of Cuba's need, you will find it possible to respond in a spirit that reflects Cuba's generosity. There are two ways to send in donations. Either way, you will receive a charitable tax receipt: 1. Send cheques made out to the Mackenzie-Papineau Memorial Fund, clearly stating "Cuba Hurricane Relief", together with your name, address and telephone number. Send these cheques to: Cuba Hurricane Fund, 56 Riverside Terrace, Bolton, Ontario, L7E 1S4 2. Make out cheques to your local Cuba solidarity committee with your name, address and phone number, clearly stating"Cuba Hurricane Relief". The local committee will send one cheque with names, addresses and phone numbers of individual donors to the Mackenzie-Papineau Memorial Fund. Tax receipts will then be issued to all donors. One hundred per cent of your donations will go to Cuba. Yours in solidarity, Keith Ellis, Chair Cuba Hurricane Fund Committee Canadian Network on Cuba Heide Trampus Worker to Worker Co-ordinator [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! 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