The Sumitra Foundation, Inc. Programs

*The Cuba Project*
     The Sumitra Foundation, Inc. announces its Cuba Project in support of the Witness For Peace Research        

Delegation for Healthcare workers travel to Cuba, March 14-28m 2009.
See attached flyer.
 For more information contact ken@witnessforpeace.org.

Dear Friends, Family & Colleagues, February 6, 2009

I have a wonderful opportunity to take part in a potentially important act of service and I need your help. I've been invited to join a research delegation for healthcare professionals, traveling to Cuba March 14 -28 under the auspices of the Witness for Peace organization.

My request is two-fold: 1) I’m asking for your sponsorship in helping me to cover the expenses for this trip and 2) I would like you to participate with me by sharing questions you may have about the healthcare system in Cuba which might give me a framework for my own inquiry.

Some of you know me as a singer and poet as well as a psychotherapist, and I will take all these hats on this journey, investigating not only how the Cuban universal medical care system compares with our own in its treatment of mental illness, but what kinds of alternative treatments they have developed which might be of use to us as our own healthcare system in the U.S. undergoes much needed restructuring.
 
The focus of this trip is for full-time healthcare professionals to research Cuba's urban and rural health and social service systems, meeting with other professionals, families, elected officials, neighborhood committees and visiting clinics and hospitals. While this trip calls upon me in my professional role as a psychotherapist and educator, my background in the arts and social justice work gives me a special lens with which to witness how, in a culture which honors its poets and musicians, Cuban clinicians use the arts in their healing practices. Delegates have a mandate to share our findings on our return and I will certainly do that with every means possible to me. To that end, I also invite you to consider ways in which I might make a presentation in your community about my findings. I see this delegation as a perfect opportunity for me to deepen my understanding of therapeutic practice and also give something back to society.

As you know, Cuba is still under embargo and travel there is extremely limited. For all the constraints this imposes upon their society, Cuba has developed a universal health care system at least on a par with our own, and has trained doctors and medical professionals to work in service programs all over the world. At a time when our own country is undergoing radical transformation and there is a possibility of more open communication between Cuba and the United States, we have much to learn from the Cuban models of healthcare. In a broader context, the work of this delegation might have some effect on structuring more effective and egalitarian healthcare in this country.

Witness for Peace, the sponsoring group, is a politically independent grassroots non-profit organization committed to nonviolence, and to the advancement of just policies and human rights. Since 1983 they have worked to support peace, justice and sustainable economies in Latin America and the Caribbean by changing US policies and corporate practices that contribute to poverty and oppression. This delegation is part of WFC's work to establish a cross-border network for the flow of information between educators, healthcare professionals, advocates and activists.

The cost of my trip includes $2,000 for basic accommodations and ground transportation for ten days in Cuba. Since travel to Cuba from the continental United States is still prohibited, we are flying out of Cancun, Mexico and are responsible for that leg of the trip and ancillary expenses - an estimate of $700 for airfare and related fees. In addition I need to cover some of the expense of my time lost from work.

Because this is more than I can afford on my own I am requesting sponsorship to bring this opportunity to reality for me. Witness for Peace has suggested a donation of $100 or more but I understand that not everyone can do that. Please know that whatever you offer will be deeply appreciated, including your prayers and good wishes for my journey. You may make a check out to me, Molly Scott, or if you would like your contributions to be tax deductible, you may write your donation to The Sumitra Foundation, my non-profit arts for peace organization “for the Cuba project”. My address is
Dr. Molly Scott, 127 Warner Hill Road, Charlemont, MA 01339.

Thank you in advance for any help you can give.  Please feel free to call me with any questions at 413-339-5501. You can read more about my work at mollyscott.com and Witness for Peace at Witnessforpeace.org.

                                                             In Peace.
                                                             Dr. Molly Scott, Ed.D, LMHC