AYV News January 17, 2023

The students flanked by Amb. Cruz and his wife Ana María García Ternblom

The Government of Cuba has offered another six-year scholarship to three Sierra Leonean young students, Ryinatu Sesay, Magdalene Jeneba Jamesseta Flangoh and James Jusu to study medicines and other related medical courses in Cuba.

Bidding farewell to the students yesterday 17th January, 2023 at the Embassy’s Sidibay Drive, Off Minah Drive. Juba Hill in Freetown, Cuba’s Chargé d’Affaires and Ambassador to Sierra Leone, Ambassador Félix Raúl Rojas Cruz encouraged the students to prioritise their education and ensure they make good use of the opportunity awarded them.

“The country you are going to does not have it all but I want to assure you that if you are there to gain education, you will get nothing but the best.” Ambassador Cruz told the students, while further encouraging them to go to Cuba, gain all the knowledge they want and ensure to return home and help develop Sierra Leone’s health system.

The Ambassador reminded the students about the importance of giving the best of them in the course of their careers. He took the opportunity to condemn once again the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States against Cuba, while explaining that despite the blockade; “our country remains committed to continue offering scholarships to young people from different countries that lack the resources to pay for college.

The bilateral relationship between Sierra Leone and Cuba began 40-years ago under President Fidel Castro. As a way to cement that long lasting relationship, the Cuban Government has been in Sierra Leone since 1972.

In 2005, the late President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah was the first to have visited Cuba from Africa and ever since the two countries’ bond is growing from strength to strength.
Presently there are lots of Sierra Leonean students studying in Cuba under a Cuban scholarship scheme.