Cuba Medical Mission raises funds
By Joan Janzen
John Martinez and his wife Razel were busy preparing delicious Filipino cuisine at Clearview Community Church on Friday, April 29th. The meal, accompanied by a silent auction, was a fundraiser for the Cuba Medical Mission. Ruth Griffith explained what the medical mission is all about.
From 2004 to 2019, Ruth and her husband Lloyd took six teams of approximately fifteen volunteers to Cuba. The volunteers from churches in Delisle, Kindersley and Saskatoon would primarily help out with construction projects and do children’s ministry.
“The first time we went we had about 235 kids each day,” Ruth said. “We would hand out gift bags with candy. Some of the kids had never had candy before. We always stayed at a resort so we weren’t a burden on the local people, because it’s difficult for Cubans to host and feed that many people.”
In May of 2018, Ruth and Lloyd made a trip to Cuba, and while there toured a medical clinic. It is the only day clinic serving a city of 45,000, and they were shocked by what they saw!
“There were no privacy rules. We could go into any room where patients were being examined,” she said. “There was no hot water in the clinic, and an empty medicine cabinet. They can’t buy pain medication there.”
When they walked in, there was cardboard on the floor instead of floor mats. Throughout the entire building, only three of the window air conditioners were working, and power outages occur daily.
“This particular clinic had five doctors, and they all shared one stethoscope and one blood pressure cuff,” Ruth said. “They have one hospital gown that’s worn by every patient who gets scanned, and it gets washed once or twice a month. The x-ray technician is in a small room with an open tray of x-ray developer, breathing in those fumes.”
That’s a small snap shot of what a medical clinic in Cuba looks like, and it caused Ruth and Lloyd to begin to collecting supplies in Canada. “Since then we’ve been collecting supplies ... hospital beds, recycled wheelchairs, crutches, linens, any surplus supplies that are useful in Cuba.”
They have accumulated a large storage room full of supplies, and are looking into the difficult process of shipping the them to Cuba. “I’ve connected with a ministry based out of London, Ontario called ‘Together With Cuba’. They have a partnership with MediCuba which will share the cost of shipping if we can get our supplies to Ontario,” Ruth explained. “It sounds easy, but it’s more difficult than we every thought.”
Although the couple hasn’t been able to go on mission trips for the past few years, they continue to send care packages to Cuba. Circumstances have become even more desperate for the people in Cuba since Ruth and Lloyd last visited that country. “Their suicide rate is very high, and anyone who has a possibility of leaving will do so,” Ruth explained. Although leaving is dangerous, she was told 32,000 Cubans escaped to Nicaragua during the month of March, 2022.
Basic essentials are often impossible to find, or extremely expensive. Ruth said a pair of adult running shoes can cost $182 US, and something as simple as sewing needles cannot be found, even though many women use sewing as a source of income.
Although growing produce and raising cattle seem like a logical solution, Ruth explained why it’s not a simple solution in Cuba. “The Cuban government has rules about what people can grow. It’s against the law to grow potatoes unless you have a special licence from the government,” she said. “The more you find out ... the more rules you discover. Cows are government property. If you have a milk cow, the first 5 litres of milk goes to the government. It boggles your mind,” she said.
Meanwhile, Ruth and Lloyd, along with others, continue to raise money for the Cuban people. Their supper and silent auction on Friday evening brought in a total of $3,000.00.
“We are very grateful for all the support the project t has received in the community,” Ruth concluded.
This gown is worn by every patient who is examined in this room.
A bathroom in the clinic.
This is an examining room. Ruth heard of a pregnant woman who wasn’t able to get to the hospital in time and delivered her baby on this examination table.
This is where doctors wash their hands.
