Here they were when the fateful 2010 earthquake that killed about 300,000 people, wounded another 250,000 and forced 1.5 million citizens to live in camps for displaced people.

They were also present when cholera struck, a disease introduced by Nepalese soldiers from the United Nations Stability Mission in Haiti, which so far has claimed about 10,000 lives.

Evelio Betancourt, general coordinator of the Cuban Medical Brigade, told Prensa Latina that these two decades have meant a great deal to the two nations, adding that ‘history united us a little late in the sense of medical collaboration,’ but the contributions made in the area of health are invaluable.

For Patrick Delci, who graduated as a physician in Cuba, the impact is something extraordinary, something palpable, ‘and one of the best things that collaboration has done is that while they are giving us their support, and leaving their homes, they are training us at the same time.

So far, about 1,059 health professionals from Haiti finished their studies in Cuba, which later join the more than 600 collaborators that render their services in the 10 departments of the country distributed into 51 medical positions and 21 Community Reference Hospitals.