Joan Manuel Gisbert wrote in his now classic novel, The Mystery of Tokländ Island: “The yearning for new emotions of all the adventurers, explorers and enigma decipherers who still exist in our time will soon be satisfied by a goal worthy only of the most daring among them”.
In his novel, the writer spoke of an enigma to be discovered on a remote island in the Indian Ocean. In our project the “enigma” to be discovered is not to be found on an island, in a crypt or in a chasm, but the answer lies in the scientific method: to explore how global recommendations on diabetes prevention can be successfully translated to low and middle-income settings.
The planned journey of this adventure is five years. As in any epic, there must be protagonists as well as antagonists. We have already counted on them, they are the inherent difficulties of a research project. But there is no adventure without big problems.
At the beginning of October last year, the Republic of Ecuador experienced a period of political tension from which it was able to emerge happily. In March 2020, due to the global pandemic caused by the coronavirus crisis, both Ecuador and Spain declared a state of alert together with most European and American countries. Who gives more?
The motto of every adventurer is to continue. Despite the imponderables, the CEAD project is moving forward. It is necessary to continue accumulating information and data, as well as to prepare the equipment so that the first phase of the field programme can begin as soon as the health emergency has ceased. There is no literary adventure that does not envisage a successful conclusion, and no scientific project that does not understand that perseverance is the key to success.
Picture credits: D. Antonio Lenguas. “The Mystery of the Island of Töckland” – Espasa Calpe, 1981
