Hello

I’m a member of a group who is into crowd funded charity. It’s the holy month of Ramadan for us and we are encouraged to do zakat or charity. We have some projects in the Middle East and in Africa but none in the western hemisphere asides from some building of schools and mosques in North America.

As a chairperson of our zakat group and a big admirer of the Cuban peoples unbreakable spirit I have proposed Cuba as our next place to try and help in whatever way we can. I’m into politics and history and seeing how bad the situation is right now really breaks my heart. Especially how little media attention it gets and how dangerous/difficult it is for locals to speak out.

I volunteered to go to Cuba myself this May to help lead and coordinate things on the ground. Some people have tried to dissuade me from this due to the current situation and political climate but I feel like the risk is worth it. I have heard Cuba is relatively safe for those who have their wits about them. I spent 2 years in Somalia so I can’t imagine it’s any more dangerous than that..

The proposal has been all but accepted but I need to provide tangible solutions to two major problems for it to be official.

First problem we will run into is delivery of funds/goods. I know many things like PayPal and US bank accounts give people the run around or flat out don’t allow transfers to Cuba. I’ve looked at gofundme and similar platforms but the issue will become withdrawing those funds in Cuban currency. Especially at (hopefully) such a large amount. I also don’t want to be unfair and purchase these goods from only a few vendors and neglect the others. I’d like it to benefit as many people as possible.

I’ve explored remit platforms (which was commonly used in Somalia) BUT they have very restrictive limits on amounts and some stipulations. Basically AML/KYC stuff to prevent funding of the government.

I also know there is a small but rapidly growing crypto community in Cuba but I don’t see how that would be reasonable due to the governments fence sitting stand on such things.

If one of you lovely souls can help me with this problem it would be really appreciated.

The second issue I have is split into two parts.

I need a local. Preferably someone with credibility and who is well known in the country. Maybe an activist? Maybe a social media persona who advocates for the people?

On top of that I want maximum transparency so it would be nice to have a local 3rd party auditor. Someone who isn’t from our Zakat group and isn’t from the government. Perhaps a local accountant?

Any help is appreciated. I’m trying my best. It’s really hard to convince a bunch of older conservative Muslims about this project but it’s one I truly believe in. The first question I got was “are there even Muslims there?” 🙄

Thanks for your time.