Camp Havana '07

national | rights, freedoms and repression | feature Friday August 31, 2007 01:22 by Simon McGuinness - Free the Miami Five, Ireland

7 - 9 September 2007, Glencolumbkille, Co Donegal

From Friday 7th to Sunday 9th September 2007 men, women and children from every corner of this island - and indeed from much further away - will gather in Glencolumbkille, Donegal. They will come in busses, by car, bicycle or on foot. They will erect CAMP HAVANA and walk the hills surrounding the valley of Glencolumbcille. Some will take the challenging hike across the Slieve League ridge, some will use a more relaxed walking route and some will only go as far as the bus can take them. Some may even attempt to dance salsa!

All of them will enjoy Europe's highest sea - cliffs which are surrounded by scenery incomparable to anywhere else on this earth (see http://marette.free.fr/panorama_irlande/panorama1.html). Of course we are not just gathering to admire spectacular scenery. We will gather in what is going to be the biggest show of friendship with people from another island - at least since last year’s Camp Havana.

Camp Havana is now firmly established as the premier Cuba solidarity event on the Irish calendar. This year's Camp Havana is dedicated to the topic of Cuban Health Care in the World and its unparalleled and unsurpassed delivery of health care to impoverished communities throughout the third world. Cuba has solved its own health care needs to the extent that the World Health Organisation ranks its system on a par with many advanced western health care systems, Cubans now have the same life expectancy as the average American. Cubans also enjoy free and equal access to high quality, patient focused, healthcare. Ireland has 17 times the income per head of Cuba and still can't provide decent healthcare to its population.

More than 67 countries currently rely on Cuba to provide all or part of their health care systems in a process which is the exact reverse of the West's brain-drain of qualified doctors and nurses from the third world. Where officials of the Irish HSE cruse the world trying to lure doctors from poor countries who can ill-afford to loosed them, Cuba provides medics to fill the void and trains more local doctors to replace those stolen.

31,000 Cuban health professionals are currently working in 71 countries around the world, a total of 100,000 such professionals who have done so since 1963, according to Cuban records. These professionals have made 300 million medical consultations, performed 2 million surgeries, 700,000 deliveries and have saved approximately 1 million lives through emergency medical interventions.

At the Havana-based Latin American School of Medicine this July, 1,842 physicians concluded their studies, among them eight students from the United States. This is the third year since its establishment that medics have graduated from the School. It was set up to provide medical education to people selected from around the world who are committed to providing healthcare for their own communities and would be unable to fund their own medical education in their home countries. By this means Cuba hopes to provide health care for disadvantaged communities all around the world delivered by locals who are trained in Cuba.

Since 2005 almost 5,000 physicians have been trained free of charge, at Latin American School of Medicine in Havana. Free tuition in Cuba is accompanied by free board and lodgings, free books and medical equipment, free language training for non-Spanish speakers and free transport to and from Cuba. We believe this is a contribution to humanity that is worth celebrating.

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PROGRAMME OF EVENTS

Friday 7 Sept

8pm - Festival opening ceremony, raising the flag on Camp Havana 2006

9pm - Traditional music session

Saturday 8 September

11am - Sponsored Hill walk Glencolumbcille valley.

7pm – Film Show and Political rally: Cuban Health Care - A Gift to the World

9.30pm - Salsa dance class followed by Club Tropicana with DJ Ron (of Club Sandino, Dublin)

Sunday 9 September

11am - Historic walking tour of Glencolumbcille

2pm - Festival closing ceremony

Contact information and Sponsorship Cards for he walk are available from:

Eleanor Lanigan, Dublin, at 01-8339766 or Bill O’Brien, Glencolumbcille, at: 087-2939466

(00-3531-8339766 and 00-35387-2939466 respectively from outside The Republic of Ireland)

Email: [email protected]

Web: www.CubaSupport.com

HOW TO GET THERE

Directions from Donegal town

The village of Glencolumbkille is located on the south western tip of County Donegal. To get there by road take the N56 to Killybegs (approx. 30 Km) and then the R263 to Kilcar, Carrick and finally to Glencolumbcille (approx. 30 Km).

BY BUS

There is a direct bus service from Dublin to Glencolumbkille. The Bus leaves from Busáras, Store Street, Dublin 1 and you will arrive in the centre of Glencolumbcille in 6 hrs.

Reservations: http://tinyurl.com/367g42

BY AIR

Daily flights between Dublin and Donegal Airport are operated by Aer Arann (http://www.aerarann.com). They also operate a weekend service between Glasgow Prestwick and Donegal

ACCOMODATION

Contact the northwest tourist office at: +353 (0)71 9161201 or log on to http://www.irelandnorthwest.ie

For more information on the Miami Five log on to www.antiterroristas.cu or www.freethefive.org