KINGSTON, Jamaica — The shipment of 100 care packages and 152 personal care items, collected on behalf of Jamaican medical students in Cuba, arrived on that island on Tuesday, November 2.

In a statement today, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Senator Kamina Johnson Smith said she was happy that the shipment arrived on Tuesday after departing Jamaica on October 28.

“Unfortunately, there were delays despite detailed plans being made and implemented.  We have, however, been in dialogue with students and parents, indicating that this was out of the ministry’s control,” Johnson Smith said.

“We sincerely regret the inconveniences that would have been caused by the delayed shipment and will continue to work with our students in Cuba, and our stakeholders to ensure that this process is completed in order to alleviate some of the challenges faced by the students as a result of the pandemic,” she continued.

In providing an update, Johnson Smith said, “the process now moves to clearing the items through Customs in Cuba,” and that “the Jamaican Embassy in Havana will assist with this activity, including making arrangements for either the collection or delivery of the items by or to the students”.

“The ministry’s one-off assistance to students materialised, through consultations among a number of stakeholders, including virtual meetings with the Diaspora, Protocol and Consular Affairs Division within the ministry, the Jamaican Embassy in Cuba, parents, and student representatives located in Cuba and in Jamaica.”

In addition to the ministry’s staff, Johnson Smith thanked parents, family members and student volunteers who assisted the ministry’s team in sorting and packing the care packages, which she noted were, “assembled based on a needs-list provided by students and included basic food items, toiletries, sanitary products, non-prescription medication and personal protective equipment such as masks, hand sanitisers and rubbing alcohol”.

The minister also expressed her continued appreciation to the Cuban Government for its “overall generosity and commitment to the scholarship programme, as well as importation procedures to alleviate some of the challenges faced by students as a result of the pandemic, including the treatment of the recent shipment”.

She also thanked corporate partners GraceKennedy and Seprod Foundation, as well as the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, for their support.