CAMAGÜEY.- Danixia Novoa Sotomayor had been waiting for several months for the departure to one of the small islands of the Pacific as a collaborator of medical services abroad. The appearance of COVID-19 disrupted the plans.
After training in the country's capital, like the other brigade members of the Henry Reeve contingent, the distance would be shortened from more than 15,000 kilometers to just 1,989, since her new destination would be Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. There she arrived leading 16 collaborators on March 27. The mission was to stop the expansion of the new coronavirus, which has not been as extensive there as in other regions of the American continent.
The conversation with this doctor trained by the Revolution revolves around a controversial issue, related to the campaign of the United States and other "misgovernments", such as Brazil and Bolivia, also under the aegis of the Organization of American States (OAS) and from Mr. Almagro: his defiant discredit to the work of the doctors and the rest of the health personnel, whom they call slaves and promoting human trafficking.
The word slave causes rejection in this Camagüey's doctor: “For me and my colleagues that is one of the most absurd hoaxes of imperialism. We had the enormous privilege of being born and in Cuba, a free and sovereign country where education is a right and vocational training is part of the study programs. We chose our profession voluntarily and with the conviction that solidarity is part of it ”.
The conversation does not escape female empowerment in our archipelago. “We have access to similar opportunities for improvement and development. We enjoy the same rights as men. Given our daily routine, it seems incredible to us that in many countries, just because you are a woman, you do not receive equal benefits for the same job. We are part of political and social life with an increasingly high presence.
Cuban health personnel present in that Caribbean nation proudly welcomed the proposal from friends of our country that the “Henry Reeve” be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. They consider that the contingent has earned it by confronting the most dissimilar forms of emergency in the entire world, among which Ebola and COVID-19 have been "the cover on the knob", as they say in good Cuban
In San Vicente, the group studied in depth the behaviors in disaster situations, the available medication guides, biosecurity practices, serious patient care, medical and nursing developments, organization of services and emergency systems.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, an island state located north of Venezuela and the island of Granada, in the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean Sea, has historically maintained close ties of friendship with Cuba. It is a member of CARICOM and ALBA-TCP.
Just a few hours ago we learned that Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves participated in the farewell to those who provided medical assistance in his country during the health crisis caused by COVID-19. Also present at the public event were the Vincentian Minister of Health, Luke Browne, and the Cuban ambassador to the Caribbean island, José Leyva, said information released by Telesur.
Gonsalves wished the doctors a happy return to the homeland, while thanking the solidarity of President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, and the first secretary of the Party, Army General Raúl Castro Ruz.
"Of the 16 members of the brigade, we stayed with four doctors who will work in the district clinics of this nation, the others returned to our country with their duties fulfilled," Danixia announced.
- Translated by Linet Acuña Quilez