New school supplies
by Daphne Su
The Rotarian
Rotarian Julio Garreaud was strolling down a street in Havana, Cuba, when he passed by a local school.
“I caught a glimpse of children in class. Everything – their chairs, tables – [was] very used, of poor quality,” he recalls. “That moment created my desire to make a difference with schools.”
Garreaud, international service chair of the Rotary Club of Hispano-Latinos of Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, asked 40 Rotarians, friends, and relatives to help him deliver school supplies to Cuba in November. They transported about 2,000 pounds of pencils, writing pads, scissors, and other supplies worth $6,000 to Havana, as well as clothing, shoes, and five wheelchairs.
“We were told to pack lightly and try to take our clothing in a carry-on, saving the checked baggage for school supplies,” says Gene Beil, of the Rotary Club of Hudson, Fla., USA, who with his wife, Maggie (also a Hudson club member), decided to join the trip after visiting the Hispano-Latinos club during the RI Convention in Salt Lake City.
The group visited a school for the visually impaired, a middle school, and a small village school, meeting with students and teachers.
Current U.S. law allows volunteers to travel to Cuba on humanitarian missions. Each participant covered all their own travel expenses, plus $500 as a donation to the project. This is the first international project for the Hispano-Latinos club, which was chartered last March. Garreaud says they’re looking at future projects in Ecuador, Mexico, and Peru.