Latest update April 19th, 2024 12:59 AM
Sep 21, 2014 News
“When you turn back the lives of these people (mentally ill) and bring them back to the society, it is so rewarding.”
By Leon Suseran
Imagine leaving your homeland to venture into an unknown country; a strange place you know nothing about,
or heard nothing about. Imagine the only thing you’ve heard about the country where you have to travel to and work in is that there was a massacre in the jungle there a little over a decade earlier. Imagine leaving family, friends and co-workers for that new land.
Mayda Grajales did it and fell in love with that country, Guyana, in the process; worked here for more than 20 years, leaving her native soil, Cuba, and chose to stay here, and build her life. She arrived here in 1992 with a batch of doctors in the Cuban Brigade, worked until 1995 when her contract ended, returned to Cuba, but loved this place so much that she returned.
This week, we feature a remarkable yet simple woman — a foreigner who, for the past 22 years, calls Guyana “home”, and vows that it will stay that way until she departs this world.
She is the so- called “lone-ranger” psychiatrist in Berbice, tending to the mentally ill for more than 20 years; hardworking, dedicated and strong, executing her duties on a daily basis, manning the operations at the nation’s only mental health care hospital, the National Psychiatric Hospital (NPH) in Fort Canje.
THE EARLIER TIMES
Perhaps it was because she grew up in a country which teaches its citizens to give back service to other nations that instilled in her a mentality of just giving and giving more.
She was born to Mirtha, a teacher, and Santiago, employed in a Bacardi Factory in Santiago, Cuba. Her early education commenced at Roberto Lamela Fong Primary and, she recalled enjoying those times, due to her having “very good teachers”, who encouraged her to read a lot.
“And I think God gave me a tremendous input years later when I had to choose to decide what I would become,” she reflected.
A bit later she attended Otto Parellada Secondary school and Cuqui Bosh Pre-University’s Rafael J. Finlay Faculty of Medicine. It was there where she gained a lot of experience. As was customary (and still is), Mayda had to contribute manual labour during her education at secondary school and university.
“I planted potatoes; I cleaned cassava plants; I collected coffee…all this time; you had to donate some time of your holidays,” she added. It brought out discipline in her.
She would only visit home during the holidays and being away from family was hard.
“You spend 45 days away from home and during holidays, you go home,” she reflected. The young student of medicine at only 18 years, stated that being around her brother, Joel, a lot, who is a Gynecologist and professor in Gynecology, and his friends, inspired her to want to enter the medical field.
“I was very fortunate in that regard, because my brother is a medical doctor, and he inspired me— also his wife— because he used to bring all his friends to study at home and I would be around and see the way you can help people.”
MEDICAL STUDIES
Mayda was particularly attracted to the field of Psychiatry, because she saw it as a way to be very close to suffering people, especially those who are stigmatized, “and when you turn back the lives of these people and bring them back to the society, it is so rewarding for you, you know?”
She completed six years of medical studies and graduated in 1981 as a General Medical Doctor and worked for four years as a General Medical Practitioner in various rural areas around Cuba, including in towns called El Cobre, La Maya and small centres called Polyclinics.
The young doctor had to undergo stipulated evaluation and prerequisites in order to commence training in psychiatry at the National Psychiatric Hospital of Santiago in 1985, which she did with flying colours. She also underwent tests and interviews and was approved.
“I was very, very happy and excited and then I had to study for three more years.” She described her studies as being very exciting, working with patients in a psychiatric hospital in Santiago. She did physical on- calls in the hospital as well, and credited her excellent professors.
After completing her first, second and third-year residencies, Dr. Grajales graduated as a Psychiatrist in 1988 and continued to work in the Cuban healthcare system.
MISSION: GUYANA
She also taught the medical interns and resident (doctors) until 1992, when her life changed. She was approached by the Cuban government to be a part of the next batch of doctors in the Cuban Brigade to Guyana.
The young Psychiatrist had not a single clue about Guyana, “and the only thing I had heard was about the Jim Jones case.” Dr. Grajales was a part of six doctors in the Brigade, which included a Pediatrician, Orthopedic surgeon, two Medical internal Specialists and a Radiologist.
The place she would be stationed was Berbice, of course, since it was where the National Psychiatric Hospital (NPH) was located. She expressed feelings of both excitement and sadness; excited to begin her new assignment in a new country, but sad that she had to leave her family and beloved Cuba behind.
“It was another language, another culture; you don’t know if you would be accepted. It was a very new experience, even though the Cubans were working here a long time before,” she reminisced.
Speaking the language here was no problem since she had classes in English in secondary school in Cuba.
She has seen working at the NPH as a challenge over the more than two decades, “because you don’t have all the facilities as a Psychiatrist, you are accustomed to…but I accepted the challenge, and I always say in life, my priority as a doctor is to try to help the people and do to the best of my ability— when you want to become a doctor, you know that is your priority; you are not looking for what I could have as a monetary reward…You have your priority as a doctor, and that is helping people.” She also encouraged others to pursue the field of Psychiatry, “because you get in touch with the very inner part of the people, with their feelings, their moods, with their way of life.”
DEALING WITH THE MENTALLY-ILL
Dr. Grajales pointed out that dealing with the mentally-ill in Guyana is quite challenging because most persons do not understand the role of the Psychiatrist.
“People think you are a Psychiatrist and you deal only with ‘mad’ people, and I think the people— even though they are opened up a bit more now, they are still very stigmatized with the mentally-ill and try to segregate these people and some of them only bring their families (to the mental hospital) as a last resort.”
Educating the population is a solution she proposed to deal with such issues and misconceptions about mental illnesses.
The load is understandably heavy for Dr. Grajales since she is the only Psychiatrist currently in Berbice.
The main illnesses she diagnoses in her patients are anxiety and depression, and she blames it on a variety of factors in our society.
She does her rounds at NPH on a daily basis, and conducts outreach clinics on Tuesdays and Wednesdays there as well as therapy. She also conducts a private clinic at her home in East Canje. Her days are quite often spent conducting clinics at the Skeldon and Port Mourant Hospitals. But she soldiers on.
“It’s the most rewarding experience, to see people’s friends and families give up on them and then you see these patients become normal persons again. It’s very rewarding when you rescue especially young people with these problems.”
A PATIENT’S STORY
She particularly recalled a case in 1992 involving a young man who used to walk every day along the Canje River Bridge. He had been a patient at the NPH for a very long time. One day, a driver saw him and stopped and remembered him as a classmate and family-friend.
The friend visited Dr. Grajales the following day at the NPH, introduced himself, and related the patient’s story. The majority of the patient’s family was overseas and the friend was able to make contact with them and get the patient out of the hospital.
The patient had been so accustomed to living at the NPH, he reluctantly left with his brother, “and it was really hard work to get back the family connection with the patient and the brother, but eventually, they got him out and today, he is residing with them in the USA— I always remember that case.”
INTEGRAL ROLE
She advocated the idea of families playing an integral role in the healing process of the mentally-ill at the NPH, citing its open visiting hours, “because we need to encourage the families to keep in touch with their relatives.”
Dr. Grajales added that a lot of patients at the NPH have been there since she arrived in Guyana in 1992, many of whom remain because their families have migrated and have totally rejected them.
She noted that the health care system has improved from the time she came and now. “Of course, we don’t have everything that we want to have, but we have a lot of improvements; sometimes we endure hardships, because Guyana is part of the Third-World countries, and even in First-World countries, mental health is neglected…”
HOBBIES, LOVE OF GUYANA AND FAMILY
When she is not dealing with the mentally-ill, our ‘Special Person’ loves to read and enjoy the outdoors. She uses Facebook to catch up with friends, many of whom she has not seen since her school days, and many of whom are also working in other countries.
She emphasised, too, that she loves Guyana, particularly Number 63 Beach on the Corentyne.
“I love this blessed country, Guyana. We all should cherish this land. And I absolutely love [Number] 63 Beach; I love it!”
It should be noted, too, that during Dr. Grajales’ years here, she was able to find her soulmate, Surendradath, a Guyanese. She also rightfully boasts about her daughter, Farah, who is a medical doctor as well.
She enjoys spending time with the “happiness of my life”, her adorable grandchildren Alejandra and Manuel.
In 2013, Dr. Grajales was duly recognized for her sterling contribution to the eradication of mental illnesses in Berbice and her work at the NPH, receiving the Berbice Regional Health Authority (BRHA) CEO’s Award. She was also honoured on International Women’s Day in 2011 for her outstanding contribution to the community.
Where is the BETTER MANAGEMENT/RENEGOTIATION OF THE OIL CONTRACTS you promised Jagdeo?
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