Dear Friends
As I prepare to return from Cuba to the United States, I felt moved to share some of what I have witnessed on the eve and then arrival of Hurricane Matthew, a category 4 storm with winds of up to 250 mph that affected the Caribbean this week.
In a consistent manner, the people of Cuba worked hand in hand to prepare and take the necessary measures to preserve human life and livelihood in the cities in Hurricane Matthew’s path of destruction. Across eastern Cuba, hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated to safety centers stocked with food and supplies needed to withstand the storm.
Although no lives were lost, in the wake of Hurricane Matthew, countless homes, schools and medical clinics were left destroyed in the easternmost province of Guantanamo. Hardest hit, was Cuba’s oldest city, Baracoa, which had celebrated its 500th anniversary only a few years ago amid a process of renewal, now left destroyed.
In contrast, from a distance we saw how earlier the same hurricane struck southern Haiti, killing hundreds in its path and leaving over 20,000 people displaced from their homes. The storm only compounded the permanent hurricane of poverty that affects the people of Haiti every day.
At IFCO/Pastors for Peace, our mission has led us to not just be fair-weather friends to the people of Cuba and Haiti but rather accompany them in the hard process of rebuilding their lives and communities, whether due to the blockade or the neo-colonial projects that tear away at their sovereignty. As in the past, our commitment will be to collect funds in order to put in the hands of our trusted partners working in grassroots communities.
Working with the Cuban Council of Churches, a symbolic donation of needed materials such as tools, roofing and other construction supplies that is denied to the Cuban people by the ongoing U.S. blockade, will be delivered to the province of Guantanamo. In collaboration with Friends of Cuba in Haiti who work hand in hand with the Cuban Medical Brigade, we will collect urgently needed medical supplies for those affected in southern Haiti.
With your help, we can make a difference and show the true solidarity that breaks with models of charity and dependence. Your donations toward the Hurricane Relief Fund will not only answer the need for unconditional aid but will also directly support the recovery and rebuilding of communities impacted by Hurricane Matthew.
In Solidarity,
Gail Walker,
Executive Director