Not Just Tourists – Manitoba Winnipeg has a traveller story from Roger & Cathy and Louis & Betty to share. We wish to thank them for taking supplies to Cuba.
When we arrived in Varadero, Roger and I walked from the resort to the Emergencias about 17 blocks away. We told a doctor there that we had some suitcases full of supplies. He was quite eager to see them. However, we thought that we should bring them over during the week when the director was there. We asked our Westjet agent, Rayden, if he would mind calling the centre for us so we could arrange at good time to go there.
Rayden hesitated to say anything but then suggested that the Children’s Hospital in Matanzas could probably use the supplies more. His daughter had been in the hospital with a chest infection and he knows the pediatrician quite well. He spoke with the doctor then spoke with the administrator. Since it is in another town, Rayden tried to arrange to get us and all our baggage there. His car was small so there wasn’t enough room for us. However, he delivered the 4 suitcases from us and Louis and Betty to the hospital in our stead.
He told us that the person who controls the supplies in the hospital was very excited to receive them, especially the urinary catheters which they had recently run out of.
We had taken a few school supplies with us but weren’t sure what to do with them. Rayden told us that there was an orphanage right next to the hospital that never gets those kind of donations. He took them. After considering our finances we’d brought, Roger and I decided to donate $100 CDN to the orphanage as well. Rayden said that the administrator planned to buy the teenagers something with that. He plans to be there when they get whatever she buys so that he can take a picture and send it to us.
I used to be a nurse. My last job was in Home Care. I was appalled by the waste when perfectly good medical supplies are discarded instead of used. I am very happy to see the very usable material being delivered to someone who can really use it.
THANK YOU for what you are doing!
