PHA-Exchange> phm activities in caracas

[Karen Smets]

Thanks for your information about how to get in the city

We, intal / Medical Aid for the Third World, will be participating in the 
WSF in Caracas with two people:
- Katrien Demuynck, RN
- myself, Karen Smets, MD
Katrien is responsible for our Cuba solidarity work. She has an enormous 
experience in this, and knows a lot of Cubans active in health work (and in 
other fields - she is also the European coordinator of the Free the Five 
Committees). She will be speaking on Cuba at at least one forum, with Prof. 
François Houtart. We have a brand new DVD "Cuba: mil razones para vivir" on 
Cuba's achievements in health, which could be shown. It is produced by the 
Cuban Mundo Latino.

I can deliver a paper or participate in a workshop on any of the following 
three topics:
- The Millennium Development Goals and health (comparable to the input Wim 
gave in Cuenca)
- The violations of the right to health in Iraq (combining the inputs Dr. 
Salam - who visited us twice in Belgium with new videotaped material and 
testimonies - and I gave in Cuenca)
- The struggle for cheaper medicines, based on the experience Medicine for 
the People has with a very broad-based and successful campagin in Belgium.

We leave tomorrow. We don't have any information about where we are staying 
or an telephone number, but I let you know as soon as possible.

Kind regards,

Karen Smets

----- Forwarded message from Kumanan Rasanathan <kumananr at yahoo.com> -----

Hola companeros!

We are in Caracas helping to prepare for the World Social Forum next
week. We are also planning to participate in the co-organised Health
Forum starting on Saturday.

We are writing this message to ask if there are any other PHM members
who are planning to attend the WSF in Caracas. If so, we would be keen
to get in touch with them. We are not organising any specific PHM
activities but would be very keen to help if  others are planning to do
so. We have seen previous messages on the list asking about PHM
participation at Caracas, but have received no response to our replies.

Furthermore, if any PHM members are planning on attending, you may be
interested in our experience of the route from the airport to the city
following the closure of the main highway. Certainly the trip now takes
longer, but is not as difficult or dangerous as you may have read.

It is probably best, however, to only undertake this trip during the
day, by either bus or taxi. It will take from 1.5 to 5 hours depending
on the traffic, so you should plan for this. If you arrive at night,
you are best to either stay at the airport until morning or try to
arrange a hotel room near the airport.

We look forward to hearing from some of you!

In solidarity

Julie Castro
Kumanan Rasanathan


Perdon por el nuestro castellano, que no es tan bueno!
Nosotros estamos en Caracas, para attender al Foro Social Mondial.
Tambien planeamos de attender al Foro de Salud que se effectuera al
partir de esto sabado.
Queremos saber si algunos miembros del MSP estan tambien aqui. Asi
podriamos planear un encuentro, y quisa compartir sobre los temas
discutidos durante el foro de salud.
Ademas, si quereis informaciones sobre la via para llegar desde el
aeropuerto hasta la ciudad de Caracas, nos puedes contactar. En
general, no es tan difficil ni peligroso como se puede leer o escuchar,
pero el viaje es lungo (1.5 hasta 5 horas), y es mejor hacerlo durante
el dia.

Hasta pronto,

Kumanan Rasanathan
Julie Castro


----- End forwarded message -----




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