During the year 2011 the emphasis of the foundation changed a little and our first container to Bolivia arrived there in March 2011. This container supplied much needed medical equipment to the hospital in the city of Minero, and clothing, sports equipment and toys to three large orphanages in that region.

Our second container was loaded On May 28th 2011 and was primarily for the city and Province of Ciego de Avila, Cuba. We have over the last 4 years done much work with the seniors’ home in the City of Ciego and on this container we sent additional aid for them in the form of beds, walkers and canes as well as clothes for the residents. We also sent medical equipment to the general hospital and the psychiatric hospital, many baby clothes to the maternity homes and hospitals, and toys and clothes to several kindergardens. Other aid from this container went to the province of Camaguey; here we sent clothing, art supplies and household items to the mental health centre in Nuevitas, walkers and canes to the nursing home in Minas and Nuevitas, special wheelchairs to the handicapped school in the city of Camaguey.

The third container went to the Havana area, with aid going to the mental health centre in Boyeros, To the indigents in the city of San Nicholas, clothing, walkers, canes, blankets and pillows to many retirement homes in Havana and the province, toys and clothing to orphanages, and kindergardens, baby clothes to maternity hospitals and maternity homes. Medical supplies and equipment to hospitals and special wheelchairs for the handicapped in the city and the province.

The Fourth container was loaded mainly for the province of Santiago, the communities of Chivirico, Ocujal and Contramaestre. The hospital in Chivirico received medical supplies, the sports department received baseball and soccer equipment and uniforms. We were also able to send sports equipment to a residential school in Uvero. The hospital in Contramaestre received operating tables, examination tables, monitors, other equipment and a quantity of medical supplies. Many toys and craft supplies went to two kindergardens in Contramaestre as well as beds and supplies to the retirement home in that city. There were medical supplies and some equipment sent to Lenin Hospital in Holguin as well as walkers and canes sent to retirement homes in Holguin, Ocujal, Palmarito and Contramaestre.

Once again the items shipped in 2011 contributed mightily to improving the quality of health care received by thousands of Cubans and Bolivians and added comfort to thousands more needy and vulnerable persons.

We are just beginning our weekly packing session for this year. We have had some illness in our group of dedicated volunteers and hope that everyone is back in good health to do the job required to be ready for the shipping season.

Again as always we wish to thank everyone for their donations, and dedicated work on behalf of the foundation. We look forward to seeing many of you when we load our first container of the year That date will be announced as soon as we have sufficient goods for shipment and authorization to ship.

John Dubois

President

Several months ago we made the difficult decision to reduce our activities in Cuba. There were issues of an administrative nature that prevented us from performing our work at the standard our volunteers and donors fully deserved. For this reason we felt it best to focus our efforts and resources elsewhere.

We have never abandoned the idea of working again in Cuba. In fact, we have continuously kept open the lines of communication and have been constantly searching for solutions which would enable the Foundation and our team of dedicated volunteers to be effective there once again. Over several months, with ongoing dialogue via e-mail and face to face, we recently enjoyed some very constructive meetings in Havana that we are confident will resolve the logistical issues that had been holding us back.

We feel that we can now look forward to prompt and accurate delivery of the donated items as well as being able to confirm and follow up on these deliveries. It is important that we honour the time and commitment of our people and we need to be able to assure them that their work is not in vain. We are confident that we can do that now.

With great joy, we are announcing our intention to resume shipping containers of medical and humanitarian aid to Cuba once again in 2011. Plans are to have the first shipment en route in May of 2011 and to add another couple before the season ends.

We thank all of our supporters, volunteers and donors for their efforts and look forward once again to working together.

J. L. Dubois

Our September visit to San Nicolas in the province of Havana was a real treat (in spite of the four hour power outage), as we saw six children’s teams playing baseball at the local stadium wearing “Tim Horton” uniforms, and also using all the other equipment that we had sent. As the local sports director said to us "They have been playing baseball all along, but with the team uniforms they think of themselves as ‘ball players’ now!"

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The residents of the local retirement home also welcomed us, all proudly wearing T shirts that we had sent. Our work in that whole community has been a success. The gerontology centre in the city of Ciego de Avila was recently awarded (January 2010) the recognition of being the best retirement facility in the country. The provincial director/delegate of Minvec advised us of this award and passed on the gratitude of the facility director and staff for all the help provided to that institution. This help spanned at least 3 years which, according to them, caused this retirement home to be rated the very best in all of Cuba.

We have been accepting/receiving/collecting some materials these last few months and began our Wednesday morning sorting and packing sessions a few weeks ago. We hope to send off a container of medical equipment and supplies to a large hospital in Tanzania in the next two months and as soon as transportation and distribution channels have been determined and assured, we will send aid to the Port au Prince area of Haiti for the earthquake victims. We will also entertain other Humanitarian aid possibilities as time goes on. As volunteers and contributors, you have been a big part of our efforts since 2001 and we felt that it was imperative that we clarify our decision and let you know as clearly as we know ourselves at this time what lies ahead for Dubois Charitable Foundation.


John and Marion

The Dubois Charitable Foundation experienced one of our busiest years to date. Our normal efforts to fill the pipeline with medical equipment and supplies were extremely successful. We were able to send 5 containers jammed full with hospital beds, wheelchairs, incubators, and a large assortment of medical consumables. The growth of this program is a real testimony to the generosity and spirit of our supporters.We are priveleged and honoured to be able to live and work with such dedicated and loving people.

The Foundation was pressed into emergency response as a result of an incredibly active hurricane season. Hurricane Gustav, Hurricane Ike and Hurricane Paloma in turn made their way from one end of Cuba to the other.

Very few communities were left untouched. On Isla de la Juventud nearly all the island's roads were washed out and some regions heavily flooded. Isla de la Juventud is a home to 87,000 people and recorded some serious damage: 20,000 homes out of 25,000 were completely destroyed.

On the mainland, the sugar cane crop was devastated, with over 340,000 hectares destroyed. 2008 marked the only time that 3 major hurricanes have hit Cuba in the same season.The devestation left thousands of homes destroyed, wiped out crops, and severely damaged the electrical grid. In response, the Foundation and its supporters rallied to assist those in need in Cuba.

Our response was as powerful as any hurricane. We welcomed donations of food, medical supplies, building materials, clothing, and cash. So strong was the response that we were able to fill three containers in a five week span. It was evident that our legion of supporters was widespread: we received donations from all over Ontario, from Québec, and even from as far away as The United Kingdom. This generosity enabled us to respond quickly and appropriately to a real disaster.