Port-au-Prince, August 14 (RHC)-- Some 25 young Haitians received scholarships to start a university degree in Cuba in September, as part of a program for low-income countries that the Caribbean nation has maintained for decades.

The majority of the new students are women, travelling from different parts of the country to fulfill their dream of beginning studies in medicine, nursing, engineering, law, economics and other areas, thanks to the initiative of Cuban leader Fidel Castro to universalize education.

'It is a dream to study in Cuba, because medicine in Cuba is one of the best in the world,' Emilie Jean Marie told Prensa Latina, and noted she feels very happy to represent her country.

Marie's goal is to complete her studies and return to her hometown, in the southern department of Grand Anse, where there is currently a lack of specialists to provide medical services to the population, she stated.

Since the revolutionary triumph in 1959, more than 56,000 foreign students from 137 nations have been trained in Cuba. Of them, about 1,500 Haitians have studied different degree courses in Cuba.