Accra, September 2nd, 2023– August 31st, marked the 40th anniversary of the arrival of the first group of Ghanaians to study in Cuba. For this reason, the Cuban Residence in Ghana was filled with those, no longer so young, who studied in the Caribbean Island, as the second activity of a program planned for a whole year of celebration.
The ceremony, which was attended by the Ambassador of the Republic of Cuba in Ghana, Anette Chao García; the former First Lady of Ghana, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings; the leader of the Solidarity with Cuba, Secretary General of the Socialist Movement of Ghana and famous journalist, Dr. Kwesi Pratt Jnr.; the President of the Association of Ghanaian Cuban Trained, Phillip Bentil, among others, celebrated such an important date and allowed those there to remember their experiences in the largest of the Antilles.
The Ambassador of the Republic of Cuba welcomed the event recognizing that, in the almost 64 years of diplomatic relations between Cuba and Ghana, the education of generations of Ghanaians is one of the most valuable fruits. She thanked the Cuban Trained Association for their unconditional support to Cuba's struggle against the Economic, Commercial and Financial Blockade imposed on the Island by the United States of America and urged the graduates to do more to deepen the relations and to remain together. She also called for a minute of silence in honor of Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz and Flight Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings, great men who led the two states and who organized and implemented the first part of the educational exchange program.
Nana Konadu Rawlings expressed her confidence in the future of Ghana with men so well trained in the island, as well as acknowledged the historical exchange between the two nations. She recalled passages of the creation of the program and subsequent related experiences.
A special moment in the event was the screening of a recorded message to honor this special date by the Hero of the Republic of Cuba, President of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples, Fernando Gonzalez Llort, where he reiterated the gratitude for the continuous support they have provided to Cuba, giving as an example the shipments of medicines in 2022 when the Island suffered devastating events.
On behalf of the graduates in Cuba, several representatives from different graduations batches took the floor, including the speech of Dr. Erick Kofi, current director of the Cape Coast University Hospital, who recalled how they learned to work and study, as well as to eat Cuban food and to love the People of the largest of the Antilles. The common denominator in all was the feeling of longing.
The official ceremony concluded with cheers of Patria o Muerte, Venceremos.
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