Toys for Cuba

Spring 2002

By John Waller

Cuba’s Circulos Infantiles (day nurseries) provide care and the first steps into formal education for tens of thousands of young Cubans. Open from 8am till 6pm, they prioritise meeting the needs of children whose parents are working. The service is free, the staff dedicated and qualified, and they’ve stayed open during the worst years of the special period.

But nothing in Cuba can escape the impact of the US blockade, and for the nurseries it means a chronic shortage of materials and appropriate toys. So this year CSC’s Containers for Cuba Appeal aims to do what it can to help remedy that by focusing on the sending of educational materials and toys to these nurseries. The appeal is starting now and will run till October.

How can you help

The best way is to donate money. We are going to be approaching manufacturers to make bulk donations of goods but each container we fill costs us about £3000 to send to Cuba. Any surplus we raise beyond what is needed for the transportation will be used to purchase goods in bulk. A leaflet is enclosed with this edition of Cuba Si about the appeal. Fill in your details and send a cheque, made out to CSC, to CSC Container for Cuba Appeal, 139 Seven Sisters Road, London, N7 7QG.

Some CSC local groups will be organising educational material and toy collections in their areas. Others however feel that they haven’t got the storage space or person power to take this on, and we certainly don’t have any storage space in our national office. So if you’ve got any appropriate and good quality toys/materials for under 5s that you would like to donate please contact your nearest local group (details in Cuba Si) and check out whether or not they are organising a collection.