Speaking with the Government Information Agency (GINA) before their departure for Cuba last week, many of the recipients of the scholarships praised both Guyana and Cuba for helping to make their dreams become a reality. Many of them said they would not have been able to afford an education of this nature without a scholarship.

"Thank you on behalf of the single largest batch of students going to Cuba for this privilege and honour to study. We shall excel, ensuring that our Cuban facilitators and our country can be proud of us," Javed Shadick said.

An aspiring agronomist, Colin Watson, is very "thankful to everybody who supported this scholarship. And I must say thanks to our President for doing such a great thing for our Guyanese youths. We promise that we will make the most out of it and make him, as well as the rest of the country proud."

"Just knowing that I am there to help out Guyana, will help me make the sacrifice to succeed. I think this is a wonderful thing (the scholarship programme) that Government is doing.

"Most of us could not have had an opportunity to go and study and make our dreams become careers," said Reneka Veersammy, who will study Human Medicine.

"Oh wow. I feel very proud of being given a scholarship from the Government of Guyana. They (Government) should be commended for this because they are facilitating poor people, who could not have made it to study overseas.

"This programme will help to enhance our population, as more professionals will be added to the country's human resource," an elated Lallbachan Ramdeo said. He, too, will be pursuing his degree in Human Medicine.

Two brothers Kelvin and Michael Thorne, will be studying Civil Engineering and Architecture, respectively. One of them said, "It is a privilege for us to go and study with the Government's assistance because otherwise we would not have been able to afford it. We are very happy to be recipients of this award."

Natasha Bacchan, another Human Medicine student, counts herself fortunate to be given this opportunity to "come back and make our parents and country proud."

Alicia Field-Ridley, Sehvonne Lewis, Nadia Coleman and Crystal Fraser were all elated, but a little apprehensive of their stay in Cuba.

However, they are all looking forward to returning and serving Guyana, since, according to them, "Anyone who does not feel the same way should not be going to Cuba in the first place."

Mia Lynn said she is "looking forward to going there and being successful so that I can come back and work for the country".

The lone student pursuing Computer Engineering, Alaric Abraham, expressed his pleasure at being awarded a place among the 131 students.

Several parents also voiced their appreciation for the opportunities given to their children to qualify themselves for professional careers.

Mr. and Mrs. Richard MacDonald whose son is a prospective medical student, said what the Government is doing is wonderful, because it is a "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunity.

"I am very grateful that a chance has come to my son, and I am thankful to those persons who have made it possible for him to have a chance at success", the father said.

Ms. Lelia Bacchan said the scholarship is a rare opportunity for her daughter, since they (her parents) could not have afforded to give her this kind of training.

The students who left on Friday, September 20 on board Universal Airlines, will be pursuing their degrees in Medicine, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Culture, Sport, Agriculture, Architecture and other areas of studies through the courtesy of the Guyana and Cuban governments.

Last year during a visit to the Spanish-speaking country, President Bharrat Jagdeo secured 350 scholarships from the Cuban President Dr. Fidel Castro.

The scholarships will be awarded to Guyanese students, including Amerindians, over a period of three years.

This first batch of awardees selected countrywide, comprises 124 Government-sponsored students, four sponsored by the People's Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), two by the People's National Congress Reform and one by the City Council.

"We are extremely grateful to the Cuban Government for this magnanimous gesture. Very few countries of the world would make similar gestures. We all know of the situation in Cuba; they have economic difficulties like all other countries in the world...and that makes this gesture even more generous, as they are still trying to help other Third World countries," the President said at the orientation ceremony for the scholarship recipients.

Under the scholarship programme, the students sponsored by the Government will be given a stipend of CAN$50 per month.

Sponsoring this batch of students under the Guyana/Cuba Scholarship Programme, which is a part of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM)/Cuba Scholarship Programme, will cost the host country about US$4M.

The students on their return will be expected to serve Guyana for five years.

President Jagdeo charged the students to make service to their homeland a priority.

"We are looking forward to you coming back here to serve this country. We do not want to tie people in bondage (contract to serve Guyana), but our experiences have been terrible. When people, who are very poor at the time they want the scholarship, they do not have a problem signing the contract to serve the Government for five years."

"But when they return qualified, we have problems. Some forget that if they did not sign, they may have never had an opportunity to be a doctor or an engineer or an agriculturalist. I hope you will not do that," the Head of State told the awardees.

The students and their families were also entertained at a reception hosted by President Jagdeo before they left Guyana to become professionals.

It was a mixture of joy and sadness at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, as the recipients of the Cuban scholarships said their goodbyes to relatives and friends who accompanied them to the airport for their non-stop flight to Cuba.