By Minoska Cadalso Navarro on November 20, 2018
Even before he has taken office, right wing President elect, Jair Bolsonaro has decimated the “More Doctors” program that has been a huge social achievement in Brazil since 2013. During that time some 20,000 Cuban doctors have attended to over 113 million patients mostly in the poorest areas of the favelas in Rio and Sao Paolo and in the remote areas where 700 municipalities were able to have a doctor for the first time. Bolsanaro, the new darling of Washington, questioned the qualifications of the doctors and insulted and threatened Cuba by saying they were forcing the doctors to come. Cuba is a proud country based on its humanity and they take a lot but here they drew the line because their very dignity was being attacked. Now 8,400 Cuban doctors are on their way home; here is the story of one of them. – editorial
“I could not say goodbye, I left and perhaps within 20 days in their innocence they will await my arrival, it is not going to happen, so I ask for their forgiveness.” So confesses Dr. Arnaldo Cedeño Núñez, who since 2016 has been caring for the indigenous children of the Apalai Waiana ethnic group in Brazil.
“I’ll never forget that day. It was September 11, 2016, the morning was cloudy, and there was a threat of rain and turbulence when I got on the plane at the airport in the city of Macapá in the state of Amapá,Brazil, to travel to the village of Bona located in the municipality of Almeirim in the state of Parà”.
Dr. Arnaldo Cedeño Núñez searches in his memory, it seems he goes back to live those very intense moments, “I do not deny that I was afraid, imagine only the pilot and I were on the plane. He gave me emergency instructions because we would be crossing the most remote part of the Amazon jungle to reach the indigenous community of the Apalai Waiana ethnic group”.
“The journey lasted two hours, it was complicated and risky, only after a few trips did I begin to appreciate the beautiful and almost virgin nature that I saw from the heights.”
I met this young doctor, a native of the province of Granma, through social media networks as a result of the declaration of the Ministry of Public Health of Cuba not to continue in More Doctors program. What Cedeño published in his profile caught my attention; a note that said, “Sorry for not having said goodbye!!”.
Who did the Cuban doctor apologize to?
“The last time I went to the Indian village was the day after President Bolsonaro was elected. For two years, every twenty days I lived with the natives. There was no electricity, no telephone, no internet, we only had a television in the health post that worked 2 or 3 hours at night as long as there was fuel to feed an electric plant, but in those days the TV equipment was broken and I didn’t know anything about what was happening outside the village.”
“With the children of the community I developed a wonderful relationship. I would bring them candies and in exchange they offered me the little food they had. I learned about their culture, their games, their songs, their innocence, I cried when they got sick and it hurt me that their future was enclosed only in the jungle and rivers that served as their sustenance.”
“Two days before leaving for the last time I went to take a rest and placed the hammock outside the health post and went to bed. In the village there was a party going on and soon some of the children arrived and asked my permission to sing me some songs in their indigenous language, I didn’t record them, I don’t forgive myself for that. They saved me that day from a cobra bite because they discovered that under the hammock there was a small one, one of them with his sandal, almost barefoot, killed the snake.
For a few seconds, Dr. Cedeño remained silent.
“I don’t know why I had the feeling that something wasn’t right, but I never thought I wouldn’t see them again. I promised to spend Christmas with them, it’s an important date for Brazilians, I couldn’t say goodbye, I left and maybe in 20 days in their innocence they will wait for my return, it’s not going to happen, I couldn’t say goodbye and that’s why I am apologizing to them”.
What do you bring back to Cuba from the indigenous children of the Apalai Waiana ethnic group?
“I bring with me the best memories of them, for example when the plane arrived everyone would come to great me with their smiling faces. In the beginning they touched me to feel the texture of my skin that they noticed was different”.
“They were curious and asked me what ethnicity I was, so I explained to them that in Cuba we had no chieftain, no tribes.”
“One day they inquired about our food and I was moved when I learned that they only were fed cassava, yucca and fruits, they are malnourished, especially the youngest ones.”
I feel the emotion in Dr. Arnaldo’s voice; he pauses to tell me finally:
“I gave them my love, I taught them Cuban dance, to sing our songs, to understand our culture and my only sadness is not having been able to embrace them in my farewell.
Source: Cubadebate, translation Resumen Latinoamericano, North America bureau