Books and Medical Supplies to be Delivered to Libraries, Schools and Hospitals

BOSTON, MA - On Saturday February 15, 2003, State Senator Jarrett Barrios (D-Middlesex, Suffolk and Essex) and Osvaldo "Oz" Mondejar, Co-Chair of the Massachusetts Governor's Commission on Employment of People with Disabilities and a Human Resources Manager at Massachusetts General Hospital, will lead 18 elected officials, health care professionals, educators, business and civic leaders from Massachusetts to Cuba to bring a message of friendship, hope and help.

This will be ACCESO's (Americans and Cubans building Community through Exchanges, Support and Outreach) third trip to the island nation in as many years. "Our goal is to help people in both the United States and Cuba get reacquainted with each other after over forty years of estrangement," said Mondejar. "We bring Americans and Cubans closer together by sponsoring these cultural exchange visits, and through our friendship projects we bring material support from the U.S. to Cuba."

Barrios and Mondejar, both Cuban-Americans with family in Cuba, have personal reasons for wanting to reach out to the Cuban people, and it was their personal experiences that shaped the project. For Barrios it crystallized when he accompanied his cousin, a librarian in Cuba, to work one day. “I saw first-hand the critical shortage of modern books. I promised her that I would not return again empty-handed.” For Mondejar, it was when he learned of the critical shortages of basic medical supplies during a conversation with his cousin, a family doctor in rural Cuba.

ACCESO, an all-volunteer organization, raises funds to support its work by soliciting individual gifts, hosting an annual fundraiser and receiving a sponsorship grant from Boston-based Oxfam America. Members of the delegation pay their own expenses for the trip. "A big thank you to everyone who has made this possible," said Barrios. "Most of the money we raise goes to shipping expenses, as due to the US embargo, we can't simply load the goods we have received onto a ship in Boston harbor or onto a cargo plane at Logan--regulations require that it go via a third country. For us, that means we must first truck everything to Canada, and then load it on a ship bound for Havana."

This year ACCESO, thanks to the generosity of individuals, businesses and organizations, is sending thousands of books, including Braille, large print and audio books to libraries in Cuba. Additionally, well over $100,000 worth of medical supplies and equipment will be brought to hospitals and schools serving children with disabilities. "We are so thrilled with the outpouring of support for our efforts," said Mondejar. "While a principle focus of our mission is to aid disabled children and their integration into society, it's not just what ACCESO does for Cubans that's important; equally important is what the trip does for the Americans who go with us as delegates -- it is impossible to visit Cuba and not be changed by it. Our work has taught us that despite the animosity between our governments and the fact that two generations of children have grown-up with little knowledge of or interaction with each other, the American and Cuban peoples have never lost their affection for, admiration of or connection to one another. Our shared roots simply run too deep."