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Recognition for Cuba in Cotopaxi
Carlos Lage, vice president of the
Council of State of Cuba, and the delegation that
attended Rafael Correa’s investiture welcomed in
localities that have benefited from the Cuban
programs.
BY ELSA CLARO AND
JOSE MANUEL CORREA
—Granma daily special correspondents—
“THIS program is for poor people,” said César
Umajinga, governor of the province of Cotopaxi, when
asked about the results of the “I Can Do It!”
program, through which the number of illiterate
people in this mountainous area of 352,000
inhabitants has reduced considerably.
Shortly before, the leader had received Cuban Vice
President Carlos Lage Dávila, whom he thanked for
the island’s collaboration both with this program
and Operation Miracle, which has restored the sight
of more than 8,000 Ecuadorians in just two years in
ophthalmalogical centers set up and staffed by
Cubans. One of them is here in this very locality,
while the other is in Guayas.
After receiving demonstrations of affection and
gratitude from the authorities in the area, Lage
recalled how just a few months ago he had attended
the opening of the center in Latacunga and was now
able to verify the results for himself during an
exchange with the Cuban specialists working there.
Mercedes Argite Campino, head of Operation Miracle
in Ecuador, explained that there are 44 specialists
including doctors and other cooperators in that
nation, all of them dedicated to returning the sight
of low-income people.
She
and her colleagues have an immense collection of
anecdotes that demonstrate the gratitude of people,
including young people, who were unable to see their
children or their environment and have now regained
this precious gift. As the governor told us, the
program has treated people who were unable to pay
for their operations.
According to Dr. Argite, the groups of
ophthamologists and support staff who make up the
mission also feel satisfied because the treatment
has been successful for everyone who has taken part.
“We
carry out our work under the precept of sharing what
we have, not just giving what we have left over. And
as our President says, another world, another
reality is possible and this is what is being
constructed now,” she concluded.
Translated by Granma International |
