A young Cuban doctor shared on social media her experience of going to work after enduring 30 hours without electricity in her home, a situation that reflects the everyday challenges faced by many healthcare professionals on the island.
Dr. Rachely Carmenates published a video in which she recounts how, despite the accumulated fatigue from the blackouts, she decided to show up for her shift as a pediatric intensive care resident in Havana.
“Hello, I am a Cuban doctor, a resident in pediatric intensive care, and I had to be on duty yesterday after 30 hours without electricity,” she shares at the beginning of the video, where she admits that at one point she considered not going to work.
According to their explanation, the support from their family influenced their decision.
She recounts that her mother got up early to prepare everything for her and let her rest a little longer, while her grandmother waited for her coffee and a kiss before she left for the hospital.
In his testimony, he also mentions the children he cares for in the hospital.
"There are my little patients, those sick children who are not to blame for living in the ruins of a country where it becomes more difficult to survive each day," she asserts.
The young woman also describes her routine before the shift after a night of virtually no sleep. She shares that she had "store-bought bread with sauce made by my mom and a packet soda," got ready despite her exhaustion, and headed to the hospital.
“It’s hard to get out of bed after having been unable to sleep at all, knowing that 24 hours of pure work and tension await you. But before anything else, I am a doctor, and I am human,” she points out.
Once at the hospital, he recounts that he went to see two twins who had been admitted to intensive care and were now recovering in a room.
"I love my profession. I love feeling that I have the skill to care for children, and I love knowing that I didn't make a mistake when I chose my career," she expresses.
The doctor concludes that, despite the material difficulties and power outages, her motivation remains the care of her patients.
"Medicine gives me life, and I don't mind the 30 hours of blackout if these creatures that need me are waiting for me afterward," she affirms at the end of the video.
Like this young healer, millions of Cubans survive every day amidst the energy collapse on the island, reinventing themselves to provide their families with something decent to eat and, above all, yearning for a drastic change in the regime or, in many cases, to escape from the island prison.
Filed under: