Yahoo! August 29, 2002. Thu Aug 29, 2:06 Am Et. By Vivian
Sequera, Associated Press Writer.
HAVANA, Cuba (AP) - A group of 23 American students began intensive Spanish
courses this week before beginning a six-year medical program on the communist
island.
The group arrived Aug. 20 at the Latin American School of Medicine with more
than 6,000 students from 24 countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa
and the United States.
The new students, ranging in age from 21 and 27, come from seven states
California, Delaware, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, and North
Carolina.
"Everybody at home believes I'm crazy to come to Cuba," said Myrna
Morales, 27, from Brooklyn, N.Y. "My parents think I should be buying a
house and car ... but I want to study medicine."
The students are the fourth U.S. group to arrive since last year, bringing
the total number of Americans studying in the program to 60.
The first eight American medical students arrived in April 2001, after black
U.S. lawmakers met with President Fidel Castro ( news - web sites) in June 2000
to discuss education of American students on the island.
Castro offered scholarships to 500 poor Americans to study in the program,
which is funded and run by the Cuban government.
Cuba is proud of its medical schools and has increasingly used them as a
diplomatic tool by loaning doctors and giving out scholarships to developing
countries.
More than 3,000 Cuban doctors and nurses work in Africa, the Caribbean, and
Latin America, helping out in remote areas where health conditions are among the
worst in the world. |