Care Packages For Jamaican Students Have Landed In Cuba
By: , November 4, 2021The Full Story
The shipment of 100 care packages and 152 personal care items, collected on behalf of Jamaican medical students in Cuba, arrived in that island on Tuesday, November 2, 2021.
According to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Senator the Honourable Kamina Johnson Smith, “I am happy that the shipment has arrived in Cuba yesterday afternoon, after departing Jamaica on the 28th October. 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.”
The Foreign Affairs Minister said, “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.”
In providing an update, Johnson Smith said that,” the process now moves to clearing the items through Customs in Cuba,” and 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.”
Johnson Smith explained, “The Ministry’s one-off assistance to students materialized, 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, Minister Johnson Smith thanked parents, family members and student volunteers who assisted the Ministry’s team to sort and pack the care packages, which she noted were, “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 sanitizers and rubbing alcohol.”
Minister Johnson Smith also 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 also 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.