Joomla! site syndication http://www.cubacaribe.com Wed, 08 Sep 2010 11:18:05 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.cubacaribe.com/images/M_images/joomla_rss.png http://www.cubacaribe.com Joomla! site syndication http://www.cubacaribe.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=40 Why is that so many people and so many NGO's from the United Nations on down have spent so much money on humanitarian relief to so little effect? My experience is that many of the humanitarian efforts in the world are pursuing the wrong. The model that most of the world uses is beg for supplies and money today, distribute everything tomorrow, beg for money and supplies the day after tomorrow. The unintended consequence of handing out free goods is that we contribute to the corruption of people who get to hand out the goods, and the dependency of the people who wait for us to send something else. These consequences are fatal. CMT is working towards creating a better model based on partnership, and enterprise. We must not encourage people to wait for things to fall from the sky. In this world, nothing falls from the sky except the rain. We need to plant the seeds and reap the harvest using our creativity, intelligence, and dedication. We need to work! The idea of micro loans is based upon this concept- we will become partners of people who want to work on solving their own problems. CMT has a parallel approach Think of a goodwill store, or the salvation army store, or any thrift shop run for charitable purposes. People donate items that they don’t need, and the store makes these items available for a fraction of what they would cost otherwise. This is a blessing for the people who can’t pay the full price! And the money gained through the sale of donated items can be used to support additional projects. Imagine that we are given 10,000 pounds of powdered milk. Powdered milk in the DR costs about $5 a pound. We can send powdered milk to the Dominican Republic, give it away on the streets and tomorrow the milk will be gone and everyone will be hungry again. OR, with, and only with, the full knowledge and permission of the donor- we can work with a trusted partner, maybe a church group or a non profit or even a government agency- and we can sell milk for two dollars a pound to the people who have two dollars. These purchasers now have three dollars that they can apply to something else that they need. Our partner NGO in the DR knows the local situation and will give the powdered milk away to the single mother who does not have two dollars- but they will use the income from the store to create a fund that will be used to pay for the shipping of the next container of milk, sewing machines, clothing, everything that is needed. Everyone in the humanitarian world talks about sustainability. In the real world sustainability means that goods have to be paid for, not begged for. CMT works to develop partnership and enterprise. We want to treat our donated items as a kind of natural resource t hat resourceful people will work with to become self sufficient. And of course the greater work is not sending things, however important those things might be- but the relationships we create amongst people. Public - Public Wed, 08 Apr 2009 12:51:10 +0100 http://www.cubacaribe.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13&Itemid=27 Click here for the LIONS FREE WHEELCHAIR MISSION Caribbean Medical Transport is a non-profit and non political humanitarian organization that sends medicine and medical equipment to Cuba and to the Wider World. We also promote a wide variety of non medical activities. We have enabled filmmakers and animal lovers and ecologists and even a Little League baseball team travel to Cuba to develop their projects. Our first container was sent to Santiago de Cuba in September of 2001. We've sent approximately 30 containers since then, mostly partnering with other organizations. These containers are typically 40' long, and might hold 20,000 pounds. So we have been involved, so far, in the transport of approximately 300 tons of donated medical equipment and other supplies. And recently, we have been picking up the pace! Everything we do, is with the help of our many friends. Classroom in Cuba- great teachers, great kids, no resources.If you look over the main menu at the left, you'll see that our work is divided into Cuba projects and other projects in the rest of the world, concentrating in the Caribbean. This reflects the fact that we started in Cuba, and this is where our heart and soul remains. However, over the years we developed the skills to locate and distribute valuable and sometimes lifesaving supplies, and now we work with partners all over the Caribbean. If you click on the Wide World you will be directed to other major shipments of humanitarian aid to the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Honduras, and even Kenya, and in the future we hope to expand these international efforts exponentially. The truth is that I personally am in love with many things about Cuba and do everything I can to help other people develop their own projects anywhere in Cuba and in the world. CMT exists to help good people accomplish their humanitarian projects, not to get other people to help us accomplish our projects. CMT has a TRAVEL LICENSE that authorizes us to send qualified individuals to Cuba to help us do our work. We know of other licences that would work for other people, so please contact us for advice if you have any desire to travel to Cuba legally. The following basic principles seem to have served us well to date:1) We are content to be a humanitarian aid organization. We believe life is the highest value, and therefore, the saving of life, or making lives more comfortable, is a sufficient objective. The individuals who work with us may have any political opinion they choose, with the understanding that our organization exists to do humanitarian work, not to support or oppose any government or any political point of view.2) We do all of our work legally, openly, and transparently, with permits from the US Commerce Department, Treasury Department, and all appropriate permitting organizations in Cuba and in the Wider World.3) We try, wherever possible, to send medicine and equipment to the more rural parts of the world, since these are often the areas which need medicine and equipment the most. Public - Public Sun, 06 Apr 2008 23:06:24 +0100