Dr. Eduardo Roberto Villamil Toranzo

He was barely tall enough to stand above the table and one thing was already very clear to him: "I'm going to be a doctor." And the reminder came to him with a mixture of commitment and vocation, because in his lineage, at some point, thirty-something wore white coats... So that would also be his path, but he was not going to be an ordinary one but "the one that people would like the most...”

When his height began to shoot up, basketball came as a blessed distraction in the evenings. It taught him to raise his throat, work in a team, put him in the school sports initiation school (EIDE in Spanish), and was the most tangible temptation to forget a future already agreed upon. But it was no use, he graduated from Medicine with a handful of classmates without seeing any benefit and without the certainty that he was also going to become a doctor of multitudes, a leader.

FAMILY DOCTOR OR COMMUNITY TENANT

Eduardo Roberto Villamil Toranzo, with his characteristic humorous tone, his witty remarks, and a string of memories linked for more than 40 years to his white coat, is very serious when talking about the efforts of the Doctor and Nurse of the Family, a program that he saw grow and also vice versa.

"At that time I was a young man who had just graduated and had no ears for many things, but I immediately understood the value of being a community doctor, and the demands that were posed, because it is clear that to truly have an impact on the neighborhood you have to be there, experience the water shortage to know the origin of muscle pain, suffer the lack of electricity, and also be 'eaten by mosquitoes'.”

"We began the transformation in the communities in love with what we did. Five brave men preceded me and with me another 12 general comprehensive physicians (MGI) we set out to ensure that no corner of Las Tunas was left without quality care, and also a hand on the shoulder, because there can be no knowledge without humanity, at least not in this profession."

Villamil confesses that the program was conceived as a balm and with that responsibility he reached neighborhoods in serious conditions of vulnerability such as the area of the Airport and Alturas de Buena Vista, of the Gustavo Aldereguía polyclinic.

"I tell you that it has been gratifying to see how our efforts have multiplied, Family Medicine has had an evolution with a high impact in Las Tunas, from the rural part, it became widespread in the urban area and then it extended to the eight municipalities. From a handful of professionals today more than 500 offices operate. It's easy to say, but many people's skin is hardened by the field."

With an even more serious tone, he says that being a family doctor is becoming another member of the home, knowing their problems, and trying to modify behaviors within the community, and that can only be achieved with one's feet on the ground. "Whoever doesn't feel that urgency has chosen the wrong specialty."

MANATÍ, FROM THE CHEST...

On Manatí soil, talking about Villamil leads to a question of law: "Which doctor?" There was a total interweaving that dates back almost three decades of understanding when he arrived there as the first MGI specialist and with all the authority to organize the program within the sugar town. Luck conspired so that a beautiful woman there also stole his heart.

"What can I tell you? I don't think Barbarito Diez loves Manatí that much. I can assure you that when the power goes out, which has always been quite frequent, I know people by their voices. There I had my girls, and I made friends, and brothers, in short, my loyalty to that little piece of land is more than proven."

"I remember that I had the goal of organizing the clinics first in the urban part and then in the rural part, where there were settlements with very picturesque names and which were difficult to reach, but we did it."

"How beautiful that was! We began to provide medical care to a population that had never had a doctor and a nurse in their home. Some looked at us with suspicion, the least. The nobility of the country people, gratitude, is a reward that one carries on one's back to demand more from oneself."

He says that people saw the doctor as the wisest, the one who had to be followed and cared for. This connection with the municipality led Villamil to become a delegate of the People's Power for several terms, a member of the Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, and for more than 15 years municipal director of Health.

With the accompanying bit of modesty and again between jokes and unpublishable anecdotes, he says yes, "I think people loved me because at home they taught me to consider others, women; not to ask another colleague what I could not do, to guarantee working conditions and to listen to the problems of my subordinates. Otherwise, you cannot lead.

"When I had to go to volunteer work, I was on the front line and made sure to listen to those who had not been there. People always have things to say and you have to have empathy. It is also worth laughing, accompanying the masses, being part of their interests, and being seen as one of them."

"I came to Manatí with tremendous pride. I come from a humble family and I did not have many comforts to leave behind. On the contrary, what I did was receive and do important things. During seven years of my mandate, infant mortality was at zero and I feel responsible for the doctors who were trained in the program and have achieved great things, inside and outside of Cuba."

EQUATORIAL GUINEA… ANGOLA…

Dr. Eduardo Roberto Villamil Toranzo.He tells me that he thought he had seen it all when he arrived in Guinea, but no way… "I had to make my way through the jungle with a flashlight in my mouth and a machete in my hand to fight off the snakes. The environment was beautiful but inhospitable. Nostalgia hit you hard, you became lost in your memories and suddenly an elephant passed by you as if to make it even more surreal."

Bata welcomed him into its core with a mix of development and extreme poverty. In that place, he lived without electricity, without many resources.
He remembers that he was surprised by the lack of human resources. "There anyone did several tasks, the stretcher-bearer was also a gardener, an economist or a surgeon, without exaggeration.

"The most worrying thing was that nothing was sterilized. The same needle or scalpel was used on several patients and it was an amalgam of AIDS, hepatitis, leprosy, malaria, and tuberculosis. Life expectancy was 38 years."

He admits that his first mission changed his perspective. It made him feel lucky and he made comparisons with his Cuba which made him want to return even more, but he says that he learned a lot.

He says that in those places, Cubans were like gods and medical care meant the difference between life and death. Guinea recharged his humanism, the reason why he had become a doctor in the first place.

"Angola was more comfortable for me. The work was more relaxed. At that time the 'caimaneros', young men professionally trained in Cuba, were in the highest spheres of power and the country was beginning to stand out. There we also helped train staff, it was a different task, but just as rewarding."

Listening to Villamil talk about internationalist missions is a kind of reward if the interview is scheduled for a very hot afternoon in September. He remembers that patient with a brain contusion that he took care of with great care because his father did not want to transfer him to another hospital with more resources due to financial issues. He says that he will not forget his grateful face when he walks home.

He also talks about his noble people, about the diverse and intertwined cultures, about certain tribes where the natives walk around with very little clothing and surprise, about the fact that men can have up to nine wives, a tradition that, he stresses, does not interest him. He smiles with his emporium of anecdotes.

ANOTHER PATH

When his two daughters became doctors, Villamil decided returning to the provincial capital. It was a farewell for the people of Manati and a new challenge in his routines where he already felt like a fish in water.

He excitedly reports that he now works as the provincial director of scientific societies. In this scenario, he also has to prepare the new generations to polish and exalt Medicine from the specific needs of the population of Las Tunas.

"Currently we have 48 chapters, one for each specialty, which governs scientific research activity. I must explain that we have grown a lot in this regard and we intend to continue advancing."

"To the delight of the sector, in recent years we have been distinguished with several awards given by the minister, the annual Health awards, which highlight the work carried out in the territory. We are not yet satisfied, we want to emulate the best provinces and make known the talent of our professionals, which is great."

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He likes to work with the youngest, their energy renews his desire to do things for the common good. He is a born speaker, a leader from any stage who does not repeat slogans and, on the contrary, speaks from the freedom of believing in what he does.

Villa, as his friends know him, is also an all-round father and a doting grandfather. He speaks to me fondly of his white coat, and although he knows that he no longer needs it to be recognized as a doctor, he assures me that it is not a garment, but a flag, one that has colored him with the best colors of a profession in which he has managed to be "one of those that people love the most."