Working to alleviate some of the challenges faced by the students as a result of the pandemic

Distribution has started for the care packages sent from Jamaica for Jamaican medical students studying in Cuba, amid claims they are unable to buy and get food in the communist-led Caribbean territory due to the pandemic. 

The shipment of 100 care packages and 152 personal care items, collected on behalf of the students in Cuba, arrived there on November 2.

In confirming that the shipment had landed in Cuba, Senator Kamina Johnson Smith, minister of foreign affairs and foreign trade, said: “I am happy that the shipment has arrived in Cuba yesterday afternoon, after departing Jamaica on October 28. Unfortunately, there were delays despite detailed plans being made and implemented. We have, however, been in dialogue with students and parents, indicating that this was out of the ministry’s control.”

Johnson Smith added: “We sincerely regret the inconveniences that would have been caused by the delayed shipment and will continue to work with our students in Cuba and our stakeholders to ensure that this process is completed in order to alleviate some of the challenges faced by the students as a result of the pandemic.”

Jamaican Embassy in Havana assisting with distribution

In providing an update, Johnson Smith explained that the process now moves to clearing the items through Customs in Cuba noting that “the Jamaican Embassy in Havana will assist with this activity, including making arrangements for either the collection or delivery of the items by or to the students”.

According to the minister, “the ministry’s one-off assistance to students materialised, through consultations among a number of stakeholders including virtual meetings with the Diaspora, Protocol and Consular Affairs Division within the ministry, the Jamaican Embassy in Cuba, parents, and student representatives located in Cuba and in Jamaica”.

In addition to the ministry staff, she thanked parents, family members and student volunteers who assisted the ministry’s team to sort and pack the care packages.

Johnson Smith reported that the packages “assembled based on a needs-list provided by students and included basic food items, toiletries, sanitary products, non-prescription medication and personal protective equipment such as masks, hand sanitisers and rubbing alcohol”.

Johnson Smith expressed her continued appreciation to the Cuban Government for its “overall generosity and commitment in relation to the scholarship programme, as well as importation procedures to alleviate some of the challenges faced by students as a result of the pandemic, including the treatment of the recent shipment”.

She thanked corporate partners GraceKennedy and Seprod Foundation, as well as the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, for their invaluable support of this activity.