As many have seen on the news, Hurricane Irma caused chaos and devastation across the Caribbean, our home country, Cuba among it. Many of the Caribbean islands are receiving help from external sources, such as the US, to maintain supplies and rebuild. Cuba, on the other hand, has very little support and therefore we have begun our journey into raising money to help our home and our people thrive once more.

Cuba is a beautiful island with beautiful people, however, it is a poor paradise. It is a country where the majority of the population is considered to be in poverty – by British standards at least – by our standards, we are some of the richest people on earth. Cubans are some of the happiest people you’ll meet and some of the kindest. We are a social country, where our neighbours are family and we help them as if they truly were one. We give and we share with each other, no matter how little we ourselves may have. This is what poverty has taught us. Happiness is a good personal wealth but happiness cannot scavenge for food or rebuild a house.

Irma’s fierce winds left little opportunities for the houses to defend themselves and many of the homes were torn to rubble in the worst circumstances, at best, they just lost their roofs. The large majority of the food in Cuba comes from the land or the sea. Irma caused extreme damage to the nature that feeds our people, trees and plants have fallen and the sea has risen in tumult, leaving people with the very minimum of foods and without the opportunity to have more.

With your help, we hope to raise enough money to send to Cuba to aid those little villages, such as Punta Alegre (Happy Point), who have lost near everything, to eat and regain some of their homes. We also strive to go to Cuba during Christmas so we can be there, in person and actually be part of the re-construction.

You can be sure that your donation, no matter how small will help bring back the smile of our people. You can also have trust in us that all the funds we raise, either on this page and on the other activities that the Cuban community will be holding during the coming weeks, will go to those unfortunate to have lost their homes and have been left with little hope to regain it. You will be able to track our journey and keep updated on any coming events, such as a chance to win a wedding cake on my Facebook page – Yunieska Houghton.