2024-02-17 03:00:20
The first Wichí graduate of the program seeks not to be the last. After her rotating internship she wants to return to Formosa to serve her community and integrate knowledge.
Invisible: Value and fame do not always coincide; Not even the most dedicated doctors are the most visible. They value the gratitude of those who need them more than a few minutes on television. They are part of their communities and are committed to them. They have nothing to sell; rather they share what they have, what they know. They serve humble families in remote locations; they do not want to leave any disease orphaned. They heal when they can and always take care. They are those who, with their feet in the mud, give meaning to an ancient profession. IntraMed wants to honor them with this series of interviews that aims to give visibility to the “Invisibles”.
The doctor Sandra Toribio She is the first doctor received from the Wichí community of Formosa, but that doesn’t matter so much to her. Rather, she prioritizes not being the last and showing young people that leaving their territory and receiving admission is a difficult path, but possible.
He studied at the National University of the Northeast (UNNE), in the province of Corrientes, and during the pandemic, he went three years without seeing his family, because in the Ingeniero Juárez area where there was no internet service and The courses were virtual.
Today, he only has to finish the rotating internship and then return and serve in remote places further into the province. For her, returning means embracing her culture and her people, whom she missed so much. But also collaborate to integrate the knowledge of her ancestors with what was acquired in the faculty and thus make her contribution towards a more inclusive health system. Here, her interview with IntraMed.
When did you know you wanted to be a doctor?
The truth is that I didn’t imagine it at first, the only thing I knew was that I wanted to have a profession. Within all my possibilities was teaching, but for reasons unknown to me, all the study spaces in my community were closed, there were no tertiary courses or anything. Then I thought that maybe I might go to university and I chose Medicine because I am very curious and I love science. As I was the last of my siblings, I grew up quite alone and since I was a child, books were my passion. My time at secondary school, which was not for indigenous people, but for white people, also influenced me. There I saw another world and they taught me that I might discover many branches within education. So, there are multiple factors that led me to choose medicine and today I have no regrets.
What satisfactions and responsibilities do you feel being the first doctor received from the Wichí community?
The truth is that I didn’t know I was going to be the first, but that gives me a lot of responsibility, a lot of work because following my last months here, I want to return to my community to be able to do my job and do it correctly, without really forgetting what we, Being indigenous we consider it as medicine.
But it is also an honor and a pride because I never measured the impact I had, being the first indigenous woman to graduate from the program. I lived the course as something normal, studying and graduating. But it had an impact on young indigenous people, who see that there is a possible future, options, that they too can aspire to those high-level careers. All these years that I was in Corrientes I never saw another wichí at my university, but that was not a reason to stop dreaming of seeing them study and then practice.
Once, in another interview, they had asked me ‘what does it feel like to be the first?’. And I answered that it was a great honor, but what I really hoped was not to be the last.
How was your experience as a student?
The first years were difficult, because at UNNE you take an exam to move on to the first subject and then continue with the others. It cost me a lot. During the race I suffered a lot, I cried being away from my family, but I was very happy in all the years that followed, I enjoyed being there. I made my “facuafriends”. I also had the opportunity to conduct research within the faculty and I am grateful for the professorships that opened the doors for me to be able to teach. In short, I can’t say that it has been easy, because it was difficult because Medicine is difficult, but we had a good time because we love this career.
What were your experiences outside of the subjects (collaborations in indigenous science and meetings with community leaders) and what were your years of study like during the pandemic?
The pandemic has taken away many years from me being able to explore within the faculty and I only had the full experience in the fourth and fifth year. During the pandemic I had it, I wouldn’t say bad, but very sad since I was away from my family and I spent almost three years without seeing them. I mightn’t return to my community because there is no internet there and my course was virtual, so I stayed in Corrientes. But despite the sadness and the fact that it was a difficult time for everyone, that time was good within my studio, because it really was 24/7 dedication.
Indigenous science consists of movements carried out by different types of professionals, Argentine and foreign. We seek to promote everything that has to do with indigenous knowledge subjected to the scientific method, because there is a lot that communities have to contribute. For example, in medicine, we are evaluating how much knowledge the indigenous people had regarding anatomy, how much they knew regarding diseases and their treatments, what was really lost and what they continue to preserve.
In biology, I had the opportunity to see native people within Canada and the United States who are advanced in this field. Their leaders tell young people that the only way for communities to get out of poverty is to study. And remember what our ancestors’ struggles were. I always remember them, even though I am young, I can speak through my voice regarding my ancestors, who have fought thousands of years ago, and especially regarding the fear that they felt and that they also feel today.
You grew up in Ingeniero Juárez and want to return to work within your community. What are the main health problems?
I grew up in Ingeniero Juárez, but we are not from there, we are more from the interior. My mother is from Salta and my father is from Formosa. Within the Wichis, we have our mini ethnic groups. More than in the town where I grew up and studied, I plan to work with the Wichí communities that are further west in Formosa, precisely in General Mosconi (today restored with its original name El Chorro) and El Potrillo.
And as for public health, I still don’t know how the system is managed, but I can speak regarding the experience that we indigenous people have. Already in the cities it is seen that attention is increasingly declining, so imagine what happens in remote communities, within the mountains. It is very precarious, the only thing that can be done is give painkillers, there are no treatments, everything is palliative, the surgery is temporary.
And something that I always like to add is that the indigenous are afraid of the health system and there are many reasons why they decide not to go to a health institution, due to the fear that each of us have. Because we have to think regarding our history, regarding indigenous subjugation, regarding genocide. So the last thing the indigenous person is going to do is go to a hospital, his plans are not there. And I believe that these are issues in which we must intervene, evaluate what is happening, and offer a public health system so that we can also access it, remembering that health is community-based. Because if a piece of territory is bad, if a community is bad, especially if we talk regarding communicable diseases, it is likely that the pathologies will expand. Because indigenous people are human beings and part of society, so if we are bad, it can reach the rest. So one has to intervene within public policies and it would be good if in these times a cure might be given to what is wrong within the health system. Everyone knows regarding indigenous suffering and with dialogue solutions can be found.
Doctors who work in communities always highlight the role of the health agent. In her case it would be a doctor who is also part of her community. Do you feel double responsibility for it?
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