Interview with Dr. Bita Amani, on the CDU Public Health Department 2023 Trip to Cuba, Part 2( continued)
have kept themselves safe by being on alert when they go into healthcare settings. So, in Cuba, we get an opportunity to think of it in another way. Would it change how we feel about consent or privacy if we saw ourselves not as clients and visitors only but instead as a people invested in our health system?
The Federation of Women in particular, blew my mind, in the sense that this group of older women came together, to fight for the revolution when they were younger, and then to maintain or sustain it. From the beginning, they said that their priority is children, and given how everyone is someone’ s child, then everyone is their priority. So, they have been involved in all parts of society since the revolution. Given issues of intimate partner violence, we were wondering what it would mean to have a federation of women in Los Angeles County, that would be the council of elder women.
Would we feel comfortable reporting intimate partner violence to them knowing that they have a wisdom and investment to know how to resolve a problem without needing to arrest or threaten anyone? They have the wisdom and investment in wanting to resolve things in the best interest of anyone because they see all of us as their children. When we were doing introductions, they also shared their professions. They are lawyers, economists, professors, and health professionals. Everyday women doing everyday things in the neighborhood and looking out for everyone.
When I was with the Federation of Women, I think I was struck by how much women are essential not only to the revolution process, but also in the implementation of the new vision. You can literally see that the folks that were in front of you were those who would’ ve been denied the opportunities for education if they had not had a revolution. This whole group of people would have been denied this trajectory if the status quo had remained. There is a value to this that transcends money and traditional ways of valuing resources, and it is remarkable that we get to learn this history and experience it. We are very grateful to CDU for investing in this type of experiential learning.
Thank you very much.
Cuba tour participants
CDU College of Medicine | PG. 30