Kingston, 24 April 2024. The Embassy of Cuba in Jamaica hosted the official ceremony for the award of scholarships offered each year by the Cuban government to young Jamaicans to pursue higher education in the Greater Antilles.
The ceremony was presided by the Ambassador of Cuba Fermín Quiñones Sánchez and the Honourable Alando Terrelongue and Ambassador Sheila Sealy Monteith, Minister of State and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, respectively. Also in attendance were representatives from the Ministries of Finance and Public Service and Education and Youth; the Jamaica-Cuba Friendship Association; the Association of Jamaican Graduates in Cuba; the Cuban medical and educational collaboration brigades; as well as the awarded students and their families.
For the awarding of the 21 scholarships granted in the specialties of Medicine, Nursing, Dentistry, Health Technician, Civil Engineering and Post-Graduate Studies, a bi-national Selection Committee was established, composed of representatives of the Cuban State Mission and the aforementioned Jamaican ministries and organisations, which evaluated about 50 applications and interviewed about thirty candidates.
The Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, speaking on behalf of his government, thanked Cuba for its cooperation with his country, including the scholarships it has been awarding each year to Jamaican students to study free of charge.
In his words, the Ambassador emphasised the vocation of solidarity of the Cuban Revolution despite the current economic challenges facing Cuba, caused by various factors including the impact of the genocidal policy of the blockade and the inclusion of our country on the spurious list of state sponsors of terrorism; and the commitment of the selected young people to serve their country once they have completed their studies in Cuba.
For her part, Delriana Thomas, representing the Selection Committee, highlighted the preparation and social commitment of all the candidates. Drs. Arlene Blake-McCain and Lorenzo Gordon, both graduates of Cuba and now renowned professionals in Jamaica, highlighted the enormous sacrifice made by the Cuban people, in the midst of innumerable economic difficulties, to guarantee these scholarships in Medical Sciences and other studies to students from all over the world and especially from the Caribbean.
In closing, scholarship recipient Claudia Mendez, on behalf of her fellow students, thanked the governments of Jamaica and Cuba for the opportunity to fulfil their dreams, and reaffirmed the commitment to train as good professionals to serve their community and their country.