"Cuban doctors and I are great friends. They have played a key role in my decision to become a doctor, and they continue to do so in my career as a medical doctor", as expressed by Dr. Morikebba Danso, a magnificent Gambian colleague graduated from the University of Banjul in 2017 with a teaching staff made up of Cubans, natives and professors from other nationalities.
He has been practicing his profession for five years, first at the Edward Francis National Teaching Hospital, in the capital city, and now at the Ndemban Clinic in Bakau, a treatment center for symptomatic patients suffering from Covid-19.
His experience with the Cubans began in 2010 at the University, where he received lessons from the professors of the Caribbean island who continue to provide their services in that center of higher studies up to now.
About his Cuban colleagues, he says: "His professionalism and ethics are unquestionable. They know the art of medicine", he assures.
He states that "Cuban medical collaboration has been the best, taking into account the basis of its assistance on the care of the sick, and the fact of putting a smile on the faces of patients, their families and friends".
This doctor affirms that the solidarity of Cuba and the Gambia is mutual, and recalls that when he was studying at the School of Medicine there were activities for the liberation of the 5 Heroes of the largest of the Antilles who were unjustly imprisoned in the United States.
He says that "we always feel identified with the suffering of the Cuban people, caused by the blockade imposed by the government of Washington until today, which should be eliminated because it affects medical supplies and resources for patients, including those necessary to cure children , the elderly and pregnant women".
He proudly comments that the Gambia supports Cuba in the United Nations General Assembly, because solidarity is mutual not only in medical collaboration but also in politics and social life.
Morikebba Danso has his hopes and plans for the future very well established, he wants to go to the supportive island to become a specialist of Internal Medicine because Cuban doctors and medicine have marked his life and encouraged him to dedicate himself with passion to that profession.
He tells us that "Cuba is one of the countries that has developed medicine and primary health care, with great achievements in reducing infant mortality".
He recalls: “when I was young in my village in Base, one of the most distant regions of the Gambian geography, my father, who was already elderly, sent me to the Diabugu health center, in Upper River Region, where there was a very cordial Cuban doctor always willing to help, he did not care about the time or fatigue, we learned to love him and respect him a lot”. That was between 1999 and 2001, he adds.
And the solidarity of course is mutual. The Cuban Medical Brigade (BMC) in Gambia thanks the Doctor for his dedication, his unconditional support and his affection. We are proud to have fostered so much integrity and love for the profession, and also to have stimulated that humanistic and supportive feeling, which today he shares with all of us and with his people.
For Cubans, solidarity is a universal human principle that accompanies us since society arises; it is educated and cultivated in the family, in the school, in the community, through Education and Culture; It can become a value in the personality of individuals and becomes a conviction when it is made aware and expressed in the behavior and in the social relationships established by men and women.
The historical leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, expressed:
... "And it is necessary that from now on we educate our people and educate our children ... we educate our people in that concept of internationalist duty, in that sense of internationalist duty”.
Cubans and Gambians united by blood, culture and roots today also share solidarity and humanism.
(*) Professor and collaborator of the Cuban Medical Brigade in Gambia
