Not Just Tourists

February 17 to 23, 2006
Not Just Tourists
February 21, 2006, 8:36 a.m. EST

Friends of Cuba in the Toronto area who wonder what they can take to
help out when they travel to Cuba have a practical new possibility. A
non-profit, volunteer-run organization called “Not Just Tourists
Toronto” will send you on your way with a suitcase of medicines and
medical supplies destined for a doctor in the area you plan to visit.

Not Just Tourists Toronto collects medicines and medical supplies and
sorts them under the supervision of health care personnel. (No narcotics
are handled and out-of-date or opened medicine containers cannot be
accepted.) Donated second-hand suitcases are packed so that they weigh
no more than the 10 kilograms of humanitarian aid that Cuban law permits
for tourists. Each suitcase of medicines includes a letter from a
Canadian doctor (in both English and Spanish) addressed to a Cuban
doctor, and detailed instructions for contacting the Cuban doctor.

The project’s start-up was assisted by donations from the Canadian Auto
Workers (CAW), the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers (CEP), the
Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), the Ontario English Catholic
Teachers’ Association (OECTA), and the United Steelworkers (USW). In its
first year of operation, project volunteers collected, packed and sent
more than 1,000 kilograms of medicines and medical supplies abroad with
tourists. In 2005, the United Steelworkers donated space for the group
and the amount of donations sent rose to 2161 kilos.

Bill Howes, one of the project’s founders, now offers an e-mail course
designed to help people in other Canadian cities and abroad to develop
Not Just Tourist projects in their own communities. (He is a retired
executive assistant to the president of the Toronto and York Region
Labour Council.) As a result, NJT projects have started in Calgary,
Edmonton and Ottawa. For more information, contact Howes by sending an
e-mail to: njt@njttoronto.ca.

The Toronto-area group is also looking for additional volunteers to help
with a full range of activities. Call them and they’ll find a volunteer
task for you that matches your skills and your interests. In the Toronto
area, you can call (416) 234-9658. From elsewhere in Canada, call the
toll-free number 1-888-898-8246. And if you’re headed for the sun and
sands of Cuba and travelling through Toronto, we can fix you up with a
suitcase of much-needed medicines to take along with you. Just download
the form on the home page of NJT’s website ( www.njttoronto.ca ) and
e-mail it to: njt@njttoronto.ca. If you’re a retired union activist
wanting to make a meaningful contribution to people who need help, this
is the project for you. Not Just Tourists

http://www.caw.ca/news/newsnow/news.asp?artID=1046