1) Update on our Travel license
2) Update on Commerce regulations
3) Art project (with pictures!) (See below!)
4) Florida connections
5) Colombia and the Dominican Republic
6) a personal note

1) OUR TRAVEL LICENSE

The best news is that we just received a new travel license which will
be valid until February of 2008! It took almost 5 months to get the
license extended, but it was all worth it, because now we don’t have to
worry for another 18 months!

The other good news is that the licensable categories have been
expanded and now include
* People with a background in health care
* Educators
* General humanitarians.

So if you would like to travel to Cuba to help us do our work, or
know of anyone who would like to travel legally to Cuba, please write
back and I’ll see if you can be qualified! There is no place in the world
like Cuba. I guaranty that you can have a wonderful time doing very
important work!

2) OUR IMPROVED COMMERCE LICENSE

Our Commerce license has been expanded and is also valid until February
of 2008!

We are specifically authorized to send the following categories of
material:
PHARMACEUTICALS
HOSPITAL EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES
FOOD
CLOTHING, SHOES, OLD AND NEW
ITEMS OF PERSONAL HYGIENE
REHABILITATION EQUIPMENT AND SPORTING EQUIPMENT- BASEBALL, SOCCER,
BICYCLES ETC
HOUSEHOLD ITEMS
EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS

It’s a very broad list, and we are actively seeking donations in all of
these areas! Please contact us!

3) ART PROJECT

From time to time we try to develop other ways of raising money. One
way that has worked pretty well has been to sponsor Cuba parties that
feature original Cuban artwork (and some prints also)

I’m attaching a few examples of the work of our friend CHARO, born
in Nuevitas, Camaguey, now living in Miramar, Havana. (I reduced the
images to save space if you have a slower computer-larger images on
request! )

Her work has been exhibited throughout Cuba, and in Ecuador, Jamaica,
Luxembourg, Israel, and a few other countries. She often works with
mixed materials, utilizing dried plants and flowers (often with symbolic
religious or healing significance), textiles, string, all towards
creating a dream world of elves, trolls, princesses, witches, damsels in
distress , and damsels in no distress! Her larger pieces have been compared
to Chagall, with reason. They are stunning! You can’t get a good sense
of them from a scan- they are very tactile and very evocative.

And the best news is - Charo donates these small pieces to us, about
five inches by 8 inches, and we donate an original painting to the
folks that give us a donation of $30 or more.

THESE ARE SIGNED ORIGINAL PIECES OF ART, NOT PRINTS!

Here’s how you can get involved:

A) Order a Charo by sending us $30 (more if you can- the money goes to
paying costs of shipping, so come on, send $50!) (You can donate online
at www.cubacaribe.com)
B) Help us place these Charos in a restaurant, coffee house, gallery,
or anywhere where we can put up a display about our work in Cuba- and I
will send you 5 Charos on consignment! If your friends at the
restaurant want more, we’ll try to keep you in stock of her and other Cuban
artists
C) Help us organize a Cuba party! Perhaps we’ll drink a little, dance a
little, try not to cry too much, and we’ll talk about the great times
in the past and in the future!- but mostly we’ll exhibit Cuban artists
in order to raise money to send another container! I will go anywhere
for the chance to talk about Cuba
D) if you would like to acquire a larger original Charo, or know a
collector who might- write for details!
E) Next newsletter we will feature a different artist!

4) FLORIDA CONNECTIONS

There’s a good chance that I will move to Florida sometime after the
snow buries my car up here in Vermont. I’m thinking that I will be able
to make lots more connections- medical supplies, other donations,
donors, good friends- if I live in a place where there are more Cubans. I’d
love to meet anyone in Florida, to see what we can do to be a little
more effective in delivering donated supplies to Cuba. If you have a
Florida connection, please contact me! We are always looking for donations,
or storage space, or anyone whop wants to help!

5) WORK IN OTHER CARIBBEAN COUNTRIES

I never give up. I NEVER GIVE UP! But last year, I ALMOST gave up!

It is so difficult for a US based organization to do work in Cuba.
But since I started collecting these donated supplies, I can’t think of
anything else I could do that would be more useful or valuable.

There was a period when I believed that it MIGHT be IMPOSSIBLE for
us to continue in Cuba. So last year I went to Colombia, learned how
things work there, and created a branch of Caribbean Medical Transport
registered in Colombia. This year I will be going to the Dominican
Republic, to see what can be done there.

My heart is always in Cuba. However, there are certain kinds of
donations, such a computers, that US laws do not permit us to send to Cuba.
There are other types of donations that Cuba does not need, and there
are other things that Cuba will not easily accept.

The logical solution is to accept all donations, and send what we
can to Cuba, and other donations to other places. I hope to get one
container off to Colombia, and another to the DR shortly after the first of
the year.

If you know of a worthy organization working anywhere in the
Caribbean that deserves support- I would love to partner with them. Future
newsletters will detail what we were able to do.

6) A PERSONAL NOTE

If you read the last newsletter, I mentioned the incidental news
that I had been detained in a Cuban detention center for a little while,
no explanation given.

I have recently been told that I am not on any immigration black
list- that’s good!

Better yet, at least 40 folks have gone under our license, without
repercussions to anyone.

I do have some people in the right places and I have been told that
the situation has been resolved.

In the meantime, we will do our work- and to protect our colleagues
and partners throughout the world, I’m not going to write so much about
specific projects. We have been involved with 5 containers that went
out this year, and we have projects in lots of different areas- but until
such time as the level of suspicion between Cuba and the US is
substantially diminished- talking at length about the work we do has the
potential of creating obstacles. I’m looking forward to the day when normal
people can act normal, visit their friends whenever they choose, do
whatever good work that inspires them.

This year, wonderful people have stepped forward to take charge of
various projects. I don’t need to list you, or even talk about the
projects- medical, environmental, cultural, educational, animal welfare- a
broad range of worthwhile activities. None of you are doing this work
for the recognition.

With all my heart I hope to see you soon in Havana or maybe in
Santiago de Cuba!

Truly, Rick Schwag, Caribbean Medical Transport

www.cubacaribe.com