A primary mission of First-Hand Aid is to deliver help to Cuban hospitals—by hand. With the blessing of the U.S. and Cuban governments, we carry badly needed medicine and medical supplies in duffel bags right through the front door of a hospital and bring it to the doctors who use it.

We also bring donated toys, pencils and pens, crayons, books, hygiene supplies, and other items for pediatric patients. We meet with doctors, learn about the Cuban medical system, and usually deliver the toys and such to the kids in their hospital beds.

First-Hand Aid always welcomes donations of goods to deliver to Cuban people. To find out how, email contact@firsthandaid.org.

On this trip, we visited the Institute of Oncology and Radiology in Havana, a hospital that serves the entire country with a range of specialties, and is a leader in biotechnology.

Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to visit the children. It’s always a highlight for travelers with First-Hand Aid to bring a bit of joy to families in tough situations. But the most important thing is that the items we brought made it where they need to be. And that’s what First-Hand Aid is all about.

We also delivered supplies to the hospital in Guines, a poor town about 30 miles south of Havana, with a population of about 67,000. The doctors in Havana told us that the hospital has recently expanded its service area from the township to provincial level and is in the process of renovation. While the hospital has deteriorated since pre-revolutionary times and doesn’t yet have advanced services, needs are met by working with other hospitals in Cuba.

In Cuban hospitals, care is free. At the oncology hospital in Havana, parents from outlying provinces often stay in the hospital with their child.

Students from all over Latin America who can’t afford med school in their own countries come to this hospital and others in Cuba for training. In turn, Cuban doctors often go to countries all over the world to help.

The doctors told us that breast and lung cancers are increasing in Cuba, especially among women, which is coinciding with an increase in smoking. The Cuban government is now working to educate people about the dangers of smoking—in a country renowned for its cigars. Pollution controls on all the old diesel-converted U.S. classic cars chugging through streets would help, too, I’m sure.

Despite challenging conditions, the doctors are proud of the infant mortality rate in Cuba: 4.9 deaths per 1000 live births a year, according to the CIA World Factbook. The Factbook says the U.S. rate is 6.3. Life expectancy in Cuba is 77.7 years; in the U.S., it’s 78.3.

Bill Holm and I just got back from our trip to Cuba with the Grand Valley State University baseball team and will have more stories to share. Meanwhile, here’s one that Charlie Pryor, the team’s videographer for the week, captured as a couple of the players discussed with Coach Steve Lyon whether to drink the water.

So the question is: Is the water safe to drink? Bill and I have heard mixed answers in regard to tap water. In our Lonely Planet guide book on Cuba, the recommendation is no. In the three years we’ve gone, we always drink bottled water, although we do brush our teeth with the tap water in our casa particular.

We’ve been told it’s not unsafe water, just “different,” and some people’s bodies (like ours) have trouble with it. Despite our best efforts all three years, we’ve come home with a microbial infection in the lower intestines. It usually hits the last day of the trip and goes on for about a week or so at home. I imagine we pick it up from the vegetables and fruits that are washed with the water that we’re not drinking. Or from those delicious mojitos, which contain ice. But how can you not drink mojitos in Cuba? In any case, it’s not severe or debilitating but it might limit your activities away from home until it runs its course.

Bottled water is easy to find. In fact, there’s a store with lots of water (and lots of Havana Club rum!) just steps away from the casas where First-Hand Aid travelers stay. Maybe the trick is to stick with straight rum. Or cerveza.  No matter what, we recommend Havana Club’s 7-year añejo (aged) variety. It’s good for what ails you!

By Bill Holm

What a fantastic experience! First-Hand Aid teamed up with the Grand Valley State University baseball team to for an historic trip to Cuba Jan. 3-9, and it was a great success all around. First-Hand Aid travelers delivered badly needed medicine and medical supplies directly into the hands of Cuban doctors, and the GVSU Lakers played three exciting, competitive exhibition games against a team of Cuban professional all-stars.

This was only the second time since the Cuban revolution that a U.S. university has played a Cuban team on Cuban soil. And the Lakers performed well, both on and off the field.

“I’m very proud,” GVSU President Thomas Haas told me in the Lakers’ dugout during the first game. “It’s wonderful to see how a game can bring two cultures together and bring this type of excitement.”

There’s lots to show and tell about this important trip, so we’ll be blogging regularly over the coming weeks–and we’ll include lots of photos, too. Be sure to check in. And be sure to include First-Hand Aid in your 2012 donation plan so we can continue to grow and make an important difference in the lives of the wonderful Cuban people.

As we prepare for our upcoming trip to Cuba with First Hand Aid in 2012, we thought it would be fun to post a slideshow of last year’s visit. Our group consisted of four Davenport University nursing students–Andrea, Angela, Laura, and Troy–who earned credit for their program and were accompanied by their department chair, Amy, for the week. We also had two medical personnel, Dr. Bob and Nurse Bev, as well as two seasoned travelers, Steve and Brad. The group consisted of three husband-and-wife teams–Gregg/Monica, Carol/Tom, and Marcia/Bill.

In addition to our usual hospital visits to bring medicine and gifts, we had the privilege to visit a nursing school in Havana.

Here’s a slideshow from our trip to share our group’s experience.

After some technical difficulties with the blog, we are back online. Watch for upcoming posts about our recent trip to Cuba earlier this year.

By Bill Holm

We arrived in Cuba yesterday–a group of 15 volunteer travelers for First Hand Aid: Gregg, Monica, Carol, Tom, Brad, Andrea, Amy, Angela, Laura, Troy, Bob, Bev, Steve, Bill, and Marcia. As Marcia and I rode with the group from the Havana airport to our casas downtown, we felt a warm sense of connection, as if we had never left. For so many who have visited Cuba it feels like home, and it is great to be back again.

Today we delivered medicine and toys to children in two hospitals in Havana–an oncology unit and trauma unit. We also met with hospital leadership and staff, who took us to the children’s room and explained the hospitals’ history and mission. The looks of surprise and joy on the faces of the children and their parents, who can live in the hospital while their children are being treated, were touching and inspiring. The care is superb. And as one doctor said, “We keep working to get better and better.”

Watch for more accounts of our trip!

By Marcia Davis and Bill Holm

If you’ve seen the Cuban ration card in the blog post, “Keeping Our Promise: First Hand Aid’s October Campaign,” you’ll notice the monthly allotment for one bar of soap, one tube of toothpaste, and one liquid soap on the list. That was before last December, when the Cuban government removed these “luxury items” for economic reasons.

That’s why several First Hand Aid volunteers solicited their friends and colleagues for donations to bring on their upcoming trip to Cuba.

We would like to personally thank our dentists, friends, and family members who donated their surplus of toiletries, toothbrushes, and toothpaste for us to bring to our Cuban neighbors. Some of you sent cash contributions, which we used to purchase donations in kind.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to First Hand Aid–past and present. Every bar of soap makes a difference.

By Marcia Davis and Bill Holm

Packing for a trip to Cuba with First Hand Aid is not the same as, say, packing for a vacation at an island resort. What Americans take for granted here–and in most countries–you may not be able to find once you arrive in Cuba. With a U.S. boycott barring many items, and since the fall of the Soviet Union, Cuba really is an island–isolated from the global market.

The good thing is, you don’t need much as a traveler with First Hand Aid. Life in Cuba is casual and the weather is generally warm. Since First Hand Aid travelers carry medicine in, the idea is to pack lightly so you can put as much in the way of supplies in your bag as possible. A couple pairs of shorts, a pair of long pants, a few shirts, and two pairs of shoes should be adequate. You’ll be surprised by how much you can do without.

Because U.S. credit cards are not accepted, Americans must carry cash. For every dollar you bring, consider 20% of it gone: that’s the exchange rate on the dollar. You could certainly bring Canadian dollars or euros, but the rate is never consistent so it’s hard to know how much cash you will have once you’ve exchanged money in Cuba. At least with U.S. dollars, you can count on losing one-fifth right off the bat!

Here’s a recommended packing list beyond what individuals may have already planned on:

• Soap, shampoo, toothpaste, floss, razor, etc.
• Toilet paper/kleenex
• Your prescriptions
• Antidiarrheal medication such as loperamide
• Any over-the-counter medications you can’t live without such as pain relievers, eye drops, antibacterial ointment, etc.
• Money belt
• Copy of passport
• Bath towel
• For women: feminine hygiene supplies
• Raincoat that doubles as windbreaker
• Rugged shoes
• Sandals
• Clothing that layers well for cool/windy evenings
• Sunglasses
• Hat
• Sunscreen
• Cash for accommodations, meals, exit tax, and spending (+ 20% extra to cover exchange rate)
• Journal to record your experience
• Spanish dictionary and/or phrase book

Think about it this way: The fewer things you pack, the more you can bring to help our Cuban neighbors. After all, that’s what the trip’s all about.

As a traveler with First Hand Aid to Cuba, I was privileged to experience what few Americans can: Bringing medicine and toys to Cuban hospitals and living with Cuban families. It’s a life-changing trip. But still, we had plenty of good food to eat and a nice place to stay. We didn’t live as Cubans live–on dangerously inadequate rations.

It’s a hard, hard life–worse now than perhaps ever before. First Hand Aid Executive Director Marc Bohland describes it well in his recent blog post here. For another perspective, check out the October issue of Harper’s magazine. Author Patrick Symmes spent a month trying to live in Havana on a Cuban’s rations, and he describes his ordeal in harrowing, wrenching detail his article, “Thirty Days as a Cuban.” It’s tough to read, but it brings home the tragedy of Cuban life.

I suggest you read it, especially as you consider what causes to support with your charitable dollars. I know first hand what wonderful people the Cubans are, and I know how First Hand Aid makes life better there. So please contribute. And travel with us to Cuba. It’ll change your life.

Cuban Ration Card

6 pounds of rice, 1 bar of soap
10 ounces beans, 1 tube toothpaste
3 pounds of sugar, 8 ounces of pasta
4 ounces of coffee, 1 pound crackers
2 cups of cooking oil, 10 ounces of fish
10 eggs, 8 ounces of cocoa
1 ounce of salt, 1 pound of meat
8 ounces of chicken mixture
30 bread rolls per month, 1 liquid soap

By Marc Bohland

Have you ever been required to use a ration card?

In Cuba, every family possesses The Card. Their ration card system allows them to obtain the food and staples that a Cuban family must learn to live on for a month.

Lately, many of these items are not obtainable in Cuba, even on the ration system. People, such as doctors, are expected to not only live on this ration but also to be alert at work  in order to help other people.

Fathers and mothers must constantly tell their children that some things are just not possible. Doctors have to tell patients and families that their outcomes could be better if only they had the correct medicine.

In addition, most Cubans only earn a wage somewhere between $6 and $20 to supplement this card and buy other daily needs and necessities. The reality is that Americans consume what’s on this list in calories in one day. One day. Even obtaining water has become a problem for Cubans. This hardship combined with the newest move to cut 500,000 Cuban jobs, to help the failing Cuban economy, is almost unthinkable.

It is for these reasons that First Hand Aid attempts to bring as many Cubans under our wing as possible. We need to provide the medicine for children and seniors, money, food, and goods to help make life bearable for them. These are the reasons why I continue to fight this battle for them.

Each time I leave Havana with a group of Americans, it is my wish that we leave behind a promise: a promise of hope. A promise that says we will return and we will continue returning with the medicine and the money that it takes to provide services of food and support.

I hear myself speak those words, but I know in my heart that it is a promise that comes with many prices. It comes with monetary prices, emotional prices, political prices, and possible the price of failure. In an effort to keep this promise, I request your help.

To this end, I have always kept a promise that I would only ask for support once a year. It’s called First Hand Aid’s October Campaign. Other than the few fundraisers we have, October is the only time of the year we ask for help and decide how much of our promise we can keep to the Cubans. At this time we hope to not only keep the promise, but also expand upon it to help other Cubans.

If you have been following any of the news stories about Cuba you will know that life there is more difficult that it has been for a very long time. Many Cubans are unemployed, or as Cuba would say, free to be independent workers now. That means no support and no way to buy food.

When I had the privilege of hosting a Cuban minister at my home for 12 days he was treated to dinner at a restaurant. That one meal cost us more than he makes in a year and certainly more than he could ever imagine spending on food. He speaks of the vast problems Cuba is now experiencing. My mind and heart are constantly focused on the struggle for Cubans to survive.

First Hand Aid hopes to continue to do great things and grow programs that already exist. I know times are tough and some of you are struggling also, but I consider that one restaurant bill I paid that night and know that I could feed a Cuban family for one month or more, or buy several doses of antibiotics for the hospitals. We appreciate anything you are willing to give.

To donate, please visit our website.

Or, mail donations to:
First-Hand Aid
P.O. Box 150171
Grand Rapids, MI 49515-0171