Shipping Containers
MEMO:Cuba's core mission is to collect redundant but still useful equipment from Canadian Hospitals and send it to worn out hospitals in Cuba. How does this occur? An ocean container is 40' long, 8'wide and 8' high.
The only ocean containers that shippers are willing to allow to go to Cuba are stored in Brampton, Ontario.
Thus, empty containers must be trucked to Thunder Bay from Brampton to be packed and then returned to Toronto.
From Toronto they go by CN to Halifax (CP only goes to Montreal). CN does not serve Thunder Bay.
Authorization to ship eight containers is obtained from the Cuban government once a year. So far, MEMO has yet to have any problem obtaining this authorization.
The Cuban government dictates the shipping agent we must use. The process of shipping begins when we notify the agent of the date we would like the container to be in Thunder Bay. On that day, volunteers gather and, under the direction of David March, the container is packed absolutely tight using bedding and clothes as padding to prevent damage. It usually takes eight hours to pack a container.
A container will hold about $250,000 of medical equipment and supplies. It takes 24 hours for the container to arrive in Toronto and a further two days to arrive by rail to Halifax.
Any ship that goes to Cuba is not allowed to dock in USA for 6 months so shipping lines have dedicated container ships that only go from Halifax to Havana and back.
Ships leave about every 5 days and the trip by sea takes 5 days.
How long the container sits in the Havana port depends on availability of trucks in Cuba to transport the container over land the 400 km to Santa Clara.
Once there, it is unloaded by Ministry of Health employees and distributed to the seven hospitals that MEMO works with in Villa Clara province.
It has taken as long as 6 months for a container to be delivered and as short as three weeks.
The shipping agent handles the paper work except for the packing list that is prepared by MEMO. The average container will have 450 different pieces of equipment and boxes. The cost of shipping varies with the value of the Canadian dollar as MEMO pays the ocean voyage part of the trip in U.S. currency. The cost varies from $7500 to $9000 for shipping. This money comes from donations from Canadians. As of February 2010, MEMO:Cuba has shipped 38 containers and currently has enough supplies to fill five containers and enough money to ship two of these in the upcoming months. Click here to find out how you can help get involved with packing the next container or click here to find out how you can provide financial help in shipping more containers!