The ravaging passage of Hurricane Matthew through the east of Cuba has mobilized numerous institutions and persons on and outside the island. The idea that inspires them is to contribute as much as possible to the recovery of the affected localities and thus back the effort being made by the communities themselves and the government entities, which have sent aid contingents from different provinces in the country even before the impact of the hurricane.
Jovann Silva Delgado, a young lawyer of Cuban origin resident in Dallas, Texas, was among one of the first by launching a campaign to help the victims in the financing platform GoFundMe. The money collected through this means will be sent afterwards to Pastor Joel Ortega Dopico, president of the Council of Churches of Cuba, through the Western Union.
Silva Delgado has promised to publish evidence of the sending of the donations with images on this platform and on his Facebook profile. Already from the island, the religious organization will send the first aid to the affected zones next Saturday. The money will be used to purchase food, water and clothes, among other basic articles.
Meanwhile, the Miami Archdiocese has been in contact with Caritas in Cuba for the sending of donations to the largest of the Caribbean islands. According to what has been reported, the funds collected will be delivered to the persons affected by the hurricane to purchase basic need articles and materials for the reconstruction of their homes. Moreover, the archdiocese has asked for money for this through the www.ccadm.org webpage, as the most immediate way of helping the victims.
The archbishop of Santiago de Cuba and president of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Cuba, Monsignor Dionisio García Ibáñez, and director of Caritas Cuba Maritza Sánchez have announced their intention of calling for a great national campaign to help the victims. Meanwhile, Caritas in Spain is in permanent contact with those at the head of that organization in Haiti and Cuba, to whom it has passed on its availability to economically back the emergency response plans that are started up once the most urgent needs are assessed.
Amor en Acción (Love in Action), a group of lay missionaries in Miami that is carrying out collections days to send donations to Cuba, has joined this effort, just like other persons and organizations of the Cuban community in that city and in other parts of the United States.
The social networks have served to coordinate several campaigns for this purpose, such as the one currently being promoted in Facebook by Baracoa writer Oscar Montoto and some U.S. friends.
On the island, the Union of Computer Specialists is creating an aid bag. For this it has requested through the social networks the handing over of clothes, footwear, tools, domestic utensils and children’s toys, among other articles. It has also given a telephone number to report where the donation can be made in each part of the country.
The Evangelic League of Cuba has also organized itself on a national level to help the victims. This Sunday some churches in Havana will collect a special donation, while pastors in the provinces of Las Tunas and Holguín are searching for roof tiles to take to Baracoa, where the denomination has a church in El Turey district.
The United Nations System in Cuba also announced it is placing at the island’s disposal its capacities, experiences and resources to back those affected. According to a press release, the UN System is preparing an immediate response in coordination with the Cuban institutions that will include basic need supplies and materials for the early recovery stage. In addition, it is foreseeing the possibility of strengthening already existing projects in the most affected provinces as part of the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF), signed for the 2014-2018 period.
Meanwhile, the U.S. government has also shown its disposition. White House spokesperson Josh Earnest said in a press briefing that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the experts in disasters have actively monitored the passage of the hurricane through the Caribbean and have been in contact with field officials in Cuba and the entire region to guarantee the sending of the necessary aid.
USAID has prepared emergency supplies that include tents, blankets, hygiene products, medicines and water purification equipment that will be available in the communities directly affected by the storm. This was announced by the U.S. official, who added that the United States is ready to provide the assistance, but there are countries that do not have a modern infrastructure to face the most dangerous storm in recent decades.
We at CubaBusinessReport.com are also running a #crowdfunding campaign for victims of #HurricaneMatthew. The URL to this campaign is https://fundrazr.com/CubaOriente. US citizens can donate. The money will be deposited in the disaster relief bank account “Hurricane Damage Restoration” set up at the Banco Financiero Internacional S.A in Havana. Proof of deposit will be published on our website in November. Absolutely no funds are going to personal expenses. All fees: crowdfunding, paypal, banking fees will be made up by Cuba Business Report staff. The campaign is on a Canadian #crowdfunding platform. People can donate anonymously if they wish.
We have raised approximately $1,000 so far. About $600 was a private donation and does not show up on the crowdfunding platform. Hope you can publish this on your website because we are also a part of the Networks of Solidarity with Victims of Matthew in Cuba.