Students have not received their stipend.
Miami, United States. – The National Union of Students of Ghana in Cuba (Nugs) asked the president of his country, John Mahama, to intervene “urgently” before what qualifies as a crisis: a delay of 17 months in the payment of stipend and the suppression of the stipend for books for five consecutive years, according to the newspaper Ghanaian Times.
According to the Ghanaian media, Nugs representatives in Cuba say that, despite repeated efforts before the Ghana Scholarship Secretariat, “a significant response has not been received.” In that context, they describe a deterioration of the economic conditions in Cuba that has become “unbearable” the daily life of the students: High inflationshortage of basic goods and a cost of living difficult to face.
According to the report, the consequences reach daily subsistence and academic performance. Nugs points out that some students are forced to skip meals and others survive with “bread and water”; They indicate that part of the available foods presents “poor quality”, including cases with “flies and worms.” They also report that many walk between 10 and 15 kilometers a day to attend clinical classes and rotations for not being able to pay public transport.
Internet access – described as essential for study – became economically unasumable, which leaves the students “academically isolated,” he says Ghanaian Times. Without the assignments for books, they add, students depend on outdated materials and photocopies, with impact on the quality of their training.
The student organization also reports incidents of fainting during clinical practices “for hunger and exhaustion”, and an increase in mental health problems, including anxiety and depression. According to Nugs, students in need accumulate debts with foreign colleagues, which causes “humiliation and anxiety.”
Nugs describes the picture as “not only financial, but a humanitarian emergency,” and insists that these are future doctors who “now fight to survive.” Therefore, he asks President Mahama to guarantee the immediate disbursement of backward stipend, restore assignments for books and establish a sustainable system that avoids new delays. The group expressed its expectation of a rapid action, considering that this is a time to “restore hope” and demonstrate that Ghana “supports their children” even when they are far from the country.
