Havana, July 28 (Prensa Latina) A group of young people from the United States graduated from the Latin American School of Medicine in Cuba (ELAM), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced today.
A text published on the website cubaminrex.cu expresses the “most sincere recognition” for the young people and admiration for their families “for having accompanied them on this path of dedication and commitment,” although it does not specify how many completed their studies.
Under the image of ten graduates, he notes that “in a world marked by inequality in access to healthcare,” Americans have just “completed one of the most transformative experiences of their lives.”
He also considers ELAM, “conceived in 1999 in response to the devastation caused by two hurricanes that struck Central America and the Caribbean,” an “institution born of Cuba’s commitment to life, solidarity, and social justice.”
“What was then a humanitarian emergency gave rise to a lasting project of hope: free training for young people from impoverished communities in Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, and the United States, so they can return as doctors to serve where they are most needed,” he notes.
Today, he adds, “those ideals take shape in the stories of these new American doctors, who have lived with students from more than twenty countries, sharing not only classrooms but also cultures, songs, dances, values, and dreams.”
“Diversity didn’t divide them: it united them. At ELAM, difference is celebrated and solidarity is cultivated as the seed of the more humane world we all deserve,” the statement notes.
It’s not just about rigorous academic training, he emphasizes, stating that ELAM forges awareness and prepares each student “to be, more than a doctor, a guardian of human dignity, a professional committed to their community and to health as a right, not a commodity.”
These young people, he adds, “will carry with them not only medical knowledge, but also a deeply supportive and transformative ethic.”
He also emphasizes that Cuba maintains, “despite enormous difficulties, a project that demonstrates that another world is possible when life is put before profit.”
rc/raj
