By Barbara Arrindell
As we listen to Caribbean leaders respond to threats from American president #47 and his team, concerning Cuba’s involvement and contribution to our health care system, it might be helpful to take a step back and truly exam where we are today.
The United States of America is one of the countries that we have traditionally looked to for assistance since WWII, when they found our geographic location to be of value. They have been in some ways one of the more influential and some might say one of the more powerful nations within our geographic neighbourhood.
We are, at this time, dependent on them for a steady supply of processed foods and some goods. The trade routes and the wholesale connections have long been established, leaving us perhaps feeling that they are our only option, rather than just the option that we know well at this moment in time.
We import drugs and medical equipment from the United States but seldom doctors and nurses. In fact, the United States of America strategically lures many of our health care professionals away from our shores because they have a serios deficit when it comes to those human resources in their health care industry. They have not been able to keep up with their internal demand for health workers much less export them.
As they strategically look to us to supplement their cadre of trained health workers we have found ourselves in dire straights and we know that in this specific area the USA cannot and has not (with few exceptions) helped us.
Another neighbour, Cuba raised her hand and said ‘I have surplus specialist doctors and nurses along with space in my medical school classrooms and I’d be happy to offer scholarships to your nationals’.
This they did; not just for Antigua and Barbuda but for almost all territories in the region and across the globe. From time to time the qualifications and standard of the Cuban education system has been questioned. At the end of the day, though, hospitals in the region have found themselves with more skilled and able human resources and are better able to meet the health care needs of nationals and visitors.
Some have compared this to the US Peace Corps system when America deployed hundreds of people to work in many fields, but perhaps in our region mainly in the field of education. These people, often fresh out of college with little experience were turned loose in our classrooms in a culture they knew little about.
At that time, our education system was in dire need of trained teachers in specific subject areas and they helped to bridge the gap, working for stipends, not salaries. They were denied certain things like the ability to drive a vehicle and to live in homes outside of the communities where their labour was utilized. Was this “different arrangement” inhumane? Some thought so. Some packed up their Georgie Bundles and ran back home. Was this a form of human trafficking?
We have no doubt that the Cuban system of government is different. Depending on who you speak with this difference is sometimes perceived as bad while to others it is described as more equitable.
Their ability to train and educate their people and many others far exceeds the ability of the United States of America. The number of scholarships offered to our people has made smaller the social and financial gaps, giving the sons and daughters of people who never dreamed of ever affording the education that would make then engineers and doctors the opportunity to be all that they can be.
As our governments look to appease those who insist that the only right way is their way, may we as a nation more closely examine it all.
Let’s take time to consider what we have received from our neighbour, Cuba, and what we have been able to provide in terms of experience and culture to those who came.
This weekend, use your search engines to find out more about the Cuban Medical Brigade and Cuban Medical Internationalism. Look up words and phrases like human trafficking, democracy, dictatorship, sovereignty and trade in services, then join the discussion with the knowledge you have acquired.
Tune in to The Big Issues with Barbara Arrindell every Sunday from 1pm – 3pm to hear discussions on topics like this.
