On August 10th, Kunle Ekunkonye arrived in Boston from his home in Miami to promote his new documentary, “Community Doctors.” The film highlights Cuba’s medical scholarship program for young people from around the world, but especially focuses on U.S. students at the Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM). Kunle wrote, directed and filmed the documentary. His brother, Akin Ekunkonye, graduated from ELAM in July and is credited as the producer of the film.

Kunle is a software engineer and this is his first film. Visiting his brother at ELAM awakened such passion and interest that he decided to dedicate a period of four years to making a documentary that would help inform the world about this valuable project that has graduated 24,000 doctors from some 120 countries.

“I wanted to show that this program trains very high-level professionals, people who are doing very good work in the United States. It is an opportunity for very low-income people who cannot afford to enter medical schools and in Cuba have the opportunity to become good doctors for free,” Kunle Ekunkonye states.

Over 24,000 doctors from some 120 countries have graduated from ELAM. Photo: Yaimí Ravelo

I am grateful for the ELAM program and I hope that people understand the humanism of Cuba when they watch the documentary and accept it as something great. Cuba has demonstrated what can be done without much technology or money; what can be achieved with education.”While in Boston, Kunle was interviewed by Yadires Nova-Salcedo on WBZ’s weekly CBS program “Centro” which focuses on issues of importance to the Latino community in New England. The entire interview with excerpts from the film is available HERE

Kunle was also featured in an interview on WZBC Radio at Boston College for the Truth and Justice Radio show. He answered questions following the screening of “Community Doctors” in a large auditorium at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Many prospective medical students attended the program which was co-sponsored by Science for the People, the July 26th Coalition, the International Committee for Peace, Justice and Dignity and the National Network on Cuba. The film can be seen in its entirety at: https://communitydoctorsfilm. com/watch-the-film/

You can also watch it here

Community Doctors | Official Documentary (2016) ELAM – Cuba’s Latin American School of Medicines