Militant/Martín Koppel

BATA, Equatorial Guinea, August 5—One hundred and twelve students at the National University of Equatorial Guinea proudly received their diplomas today. The graduates will be starting work here as doctors, teachers, agronomists, engineers, journalists, lawyers, sociologists, nurses, and in other fields.

Among them are 21 students—16 men and 5 women—who graduated from the school of medicine here in Bata. One of the few medical schools in sub-Saharan Africa, it is staffed by Cuban doctors under an agreement with the government of Equatorial Guinea. Altogether 122 Guinean medical students have graduated from the school since 2006, when the first class finished the six-year course of study. The new doctors are eagerly awaiting their jobs at hospitals and clinics throughout the country, where they will work alongside and progressively replace more than 150 Cuban doctors, nurses, and technicians who are helping Guineans build the medical system in this Central African nation.

The graduation ceremony heard the president of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang Nguema; education minister Anselmo Ondó Esono; university rector Carlos Nse Nsuga; and others, including Luisa María Díaz, who headed a delegation from Cuba’s health ministry. Also in attendance was Cuba’s ambassador to Equatorial Guinea, Víctor Dreke.

—MARTÍN KOPPEL