Cuba and SA sign literacy pact
January 19 2007 at 10:06AM
By Jenni van der Merwe
The importance of literacy was highlighted on Thursday when the chief librarians of South Africa and Cuba signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen ties between the two countries.
The Cuban Ambassador to South Africa Esther Armenteros met, on behalf of the national librarian of Cuba Eliades Matos, with the national librarian of South Africa, John Tsebe, to sign the document, which will effectively see Cuba and South Africa collaborate on research and literacy programmes.
It is also aimed at strengthening the relationship between the two main libraries and developing skills at both. The National Library of South Africa already has links with Korea's national library and has established an exchange programme with its counterpart in Malaysia. Armenteros said the relationship between Cuba and South Africa was an exemplary one: South Africa was home to many Cuban engineers, property developers working on government housing projects and water specialists.
There is also collaboration on health issues with South African medical students receiving training in Cuba.
o This article was originally published on page 4 of Pretoria News on January 19, 2007
