2004 September 9.

AN APPEAL TO ASSIST OUR CARIBBEAN SISTERS AND BROTHERS AFFECTED BY HURRICANE IVAN

Dear Colleague,

We have all seen the terrible results of Hurricane Ivan on particularly Grenada and St. Vincent. We know as well that there has been damage done to St. Lucia, Barbados and Tobago. However, the devastation to Grenada, the tragic loss of life there and the very severe damage to St. Vincent have been especially distressing. We can only imagine the distress that our Caribbean sisters and brothers in those islands are experiencing at this time. And, unfortunately, many more may be facing the same situation in the next few days as Ivan bears down on Jamaica, Cuba, the Cayman Islands and perhaps Curacao, Aruba, Haiti and Dominican Republic.

What is necessary for those of us who have been relatively fortunate is to stretch out our hands to our sisters and brothers and to offer them some form of assistance in a tangible demonstration of our solidarity with them. To this end, the Assembly of Caribbean People - a regional network of NGOs, trade unions, CBOs and other civil society organizations and social movements – has initiated a solidarity effort to assist our partner organizations and colleagues in those countries most affected by Hurricane Ivan.

For those less familiar with the Assembly, it was initiated in 1992 and to date there have been Three Assemblies – Trinidad and Tobago (1994), Dominican Republic (2001) and Haiti (2003). The Assembly of Caribbean People is a process that seeks to develop and/or strengthen solidarity between the peoples of the Caribbean and to facilitate the emergence of a peoples’ agenda for the sovereignty of the region and the welfare of the people. Participating organizations/networks on the Regional Executive Committee include the Oilfields Workers Trade Union, the Caribbean Association for Feminist Research and Action, and the Trinidad Youth Council.  

We are requesting you/your organization to contribute to a Fund being co-ordinated by the Assembly. This Fund will be utilized to “bulk-buy” goods that are urgently required in Grenada, St. Vincent and any other island that is similarly devastated. We will arrange to have these goods shipped to our partner organisations and colleagues in the Assembly in these islands. For example, in Grenada these partners/ colleagues would be the umbrella NGO network - the Agency for Rural Transformation (ART) - and the Grenada Trade Union Congress; while in St. Vincent it would be the St. Vincent Trade Union Congress and the Windward Islands Farmers’ Association –WINFA.

·        Please make your cheques payable to:

          The Assembly of Caribbean People

You can hand deliver your cheques or make a cash contribution at the following locations:

·        Port of Spain – The Communication Workers’ Union

                                       146 Henry Street

                                      tel: 623-5588 or 623-2848

·        Tunapuna – Women Working for Social Progress (Working Women)

8 Niles Street

tel: 663-9509

·        San Fernando – Oilfields Workers Trade Union

99a Circular Road

652-2701/3

If you are posting a cheque please send it to:

·        The Assembly of Caribbean People

c/o The Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union

99a Circular Road

San Fernando

If you require further information you can also send an email to David Abdulah. The address is: headedu_res@owtu.org

We ask you to contribute as generously as you can. Your contributions will be appropriately acknowledged. While we know that we cannot match the contributions by governments, large donor agencies and some private sector firms, through your support we will offer assistance to our colleagues in the true spirit of solidarity which recognizes that it is not the quantum, but the thought that counts, and this is a ‘people to people” initiative and not an impersonal “official” activity.

Yours in Solidarity

David Abdulah