Within the framework of the celebrations for CARICOM - Cuba Day and on the occasion of the Second Anniversary of the signing of the agreement between Guyana, CARICOM and Cuba for the creation of the Regional Centre for Development Stimulation of Children, Adolescents and Youth with Special Educational Needs Associated with Disabilities, the authorities of the Ministries of Education, Public Health and Foreign Affairs of Guyana, together with officials of the Embassy of Cuba and the Cuban Medical Brigade recognized the work of both the Cuban and Guyanese teams of specialists working in the aforementioned facility, which is a model of the close relationship between CARICOM and Cuba, and an example of the possibilities of South-South cooperation.
Relatives of the Center’s patients recognized the progress of the children and adolescents and had words of appreciation to the team of specialists. The Coordinator of the Program for the Guyanese part, Mr. Keon Cheong, recognized, on behalf of the Ministry of Education of Guyana, the work developed by the Cuban specialists. The Chief of the Cuban team of specialists, Dr. Jorge Duvalón, showed a multimedia that summarizes the most significant events in the history of the Centre and its main results achieved to the present.
The Ambassador of Cuba affirmed that in two years of work the results are appreciable, both in the work of direct attention to children, adolescents, young people and their families, as well as in the preparation and training of Guyanese personnel, which will allow sustainability and expansion of the Program to the rest of the CARICOM member countries.
Recently, in the Act for the Forty-sixth Anniversary of the Establishment of Relations between Cuba and CARICOM, held on December 6 in Havana, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cuba, Rogelio Sierra Diaz, said:
"We are pleased that today the Centre for Development Stimulation of Children, Adolescents and Young People with Special Educational Needs, based in Guyana, offers treatment to Guyanese children and their families and works with the CARICOM Secretariat, so that this service can be extended, as foreseen in its design, to other CARICOM countries. This Centre is an example of the effective integration that exists between our nations."