Gathered to serve the needs of the students of Bull Bay Infant and Primary School are (from left) Lanceford Grant, education officer at the Ministry of Education and Youth’s Region 2; Esther McFarlane-Smith, school principal; Jodi Bernard Kerr, board chair; Terri-Kay McKoy Holmes, academics staff rep to the board; Charmaine Daniels, CEO of the Digicel Foundation; Tanisha Miller, acting on behalf of the executive director of the Early Childhood Commission; Karlene DeGrasse Deslandes and Yashieka Blackwood-Grant, acting director of Regional Educational Services, Region 2 and two students (front row) after signing a memorandum of understanding for the renovation of the infant section of the St Thomas-based institution.
DIGICEL FOUNDATION has signed three groundbreaking memoranda of understanding (MoUs) to transform the educational landscape in Jamaica by supporting three prominent institutions in their quest for excellence and inclusivity.
RENOVATION OF THE HOPE VALLEY EXPERIMENTAL SPECIAL EDUCATION CENTRE, ST ANDREW
The first MOU heralds a transformative chapter for the Hope Valley Experimental Special Education Centre in St Andrew. The Digicel Foundation is committed to funding the renovation of the school’s special education unit, ensuring it become a beacon of inclusive education for children with special needs.
As part of the scope of works, Digicel Foundation will be renovating the classrooms, bathrooms, the kitchen area, fixing a leaking roof and revamping the outside play area.
Christina Addington, education officer in the Ministry of Education and Youth’s Special Education Unit expressed gratitude to Digicel Foundation for its continued support in education. She said, “We really have to say thank you because the work that is being done is needed. The ministry does not always have the money to get what is needed to be done, so we really are appreciative of what is to come, and we know what has been done in the past. A big thank you to Digicel Foundation.”
ESTABLISHMENT OF A SMART ROOM AT THE MORANT BAY PRIMARY SCHOOL IN ST THOMAS
Digicel Foundation has collaborated with Morant Bay Primary School in St Thomas to establish a smart room to facilitate digital literacy and technological advancement for the students. This initiative underscores the foundation’s commitment to bridging the digital divide and empowering the future leaders of Jamaica.
Morant Bay Primary’s Smart Room will be outfitted with 12 laptops, 12 tablets, a smart board, and a printer. A smart lock with also be installed for safety.
RENOVATION OF THE EARLY CHILDHOOD INSTITUTION AT THE BULL BAY INFANT AND PRIMARY SCHOOL IN ST THOMAS
Digicel Foundation will be renovating Bull Bay Infant and Primary School in St Thomas. The project is designed to assist the school in meeting the certification standards set by the Early Childhood Commission, ensuring that young learners receive the best possible start to their educational journey.
Jodi Bernard Kerr, board chair at Bull Bay Infant and Primary, said, “We are happy to see this investment being made for our children at the early childhood level. It is truly important that we get this certification as the development of the young minds at the school can only get better from here.”
Charmaine Daniels, CEO of Digicel Foundation, shared, “We believe in the transformative power of education and are honoured to partner with these institutions. We are excited to contribute to the growth and development of these schools, ensuring that they provide the best educational experience for their students.”
The signing ceremonies took place on October 21, marking the beginning of a journey towards improved educational facilities and opportunities for students in these communities.
Dr Terri-Karelle Reid (right) with Alteria Bent, a student of the Salvation Army School for the Blind on the Braille machine.
In honour of Blind Awareness Month this October, Dr Terri-Karelle Reid, a media and communications practioner, is collaborating with the Digicel Foundation to launch a campaign aimed at enhancing the educational opportunities for blind and visually impaired students in Jamaica.
The campaign, titled “Follow the Trail, Invest in Braille,” focuses on addressing the critical shortage of Braille machines at the Salvation Army School for the Blind – Jamaica’s sole school for blind and visually impaired students. Presently, only 26 Braille machines are available to serve over 130 enrolled students.
Dr Reid stated, “While we as a society discuss the importance of literacy and numeracy, we often overlook entire communities with special needs that require specialized resources to achieve literacy. Every child, whether blind or otherwise, must have access to equitable education. We are committed to ensuring that no one gets left behind.”
Charmaine Daniels, CEO of the Digicel Foundation, commenting on the partnership with Dr Reid said: “Every child has a fundamental right to quality education. We must uphold this right for our blind and visually impaired students as well. We aim to bridge the gap and empower these students with the tools they need to succeed.”
Together, Dr Reid and the Digicel Foundation hope to obtain funding from corporate Jamaica to purchase more Braille machines for the School for the Blind.
“Our goal is to provide 50 Braille machines to the school. Every donation, regardless of size, brings us closer to our objective. Together, we can make a significant impact on the lives of these extraordinary young individuals,” said Daniels.
Mohamed Majeed (second right), managing director of Caribbean operations for Marubeni Power International, shares words of encouragement with UWI electrical engineering students and Marubeni scholarship recipients Daniel McGregor (left) and Rochelle Stephen during the scholarship presentation ceremony at The University of the West Indies, Mona campus on September 27, 2023. Also present is Damian Obiglio, senior vice-president, Marubeni Power International.
FIVE students pursuing engineering degrees at The University of the West Indies, Mona campus received a funding boost in their journey courtesy of scholarships totalling US$20,000 provided by Marubeni Power International in collaboration with The UWI Development and Endowment Fund (UWIDEF).
The students, Brianna Smith, Daniel McGregor, Martin McDonald, Dwight Simpson, and top performer Rochelle Stephen, were presented with their scholarship cheques during a brief ceremony at the Principal’s Council Room on September 27.
Addressing the gathering, Managing director of Caribbean operations for Marubeni Power International Mohamed Majeed praised the exceptional quality displayed by the five recipients, highlighting the proven benefits of higher education in enabling individuals to increase their earning power.
Marubeni, he said, was pleased to enable the students to take their rightful place as problem-solvers of the future. “We commend your accomplishments thus far and anticipate the impact you will undoubtedly have as you progress both academically and in your future careers,” he said.
His Excellency Yasuhiro Atsumi, Japanese Ambassador to Jamaica, in his address, said all Japan stood in support of the development efforts of the Jamaican Government and people for continued progress. In praising Marubeni for its generosity in funding the scholarships, the ambassador noted several previous occasions in which the company had given generously to support education, most notably in donating tablet computers to enable virtual learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ambassador Atsumi said he looked forward to many more acts of support for Jamaica’s development both on the part of Marubeni as well as the Government of Japan.
Representing the Ministry of Education, National Mathematics Co-ordinator Dr Tamika Benjamin spoke to the growing importance of engineering and other STEM subjects in the modern development model. In congratulating the recipients, she likewise encouraged them to become problem-solvers on the national level and expressed the hope that their performance would in turn encourage greater participation in STEM education.
Reynold Scott, board director of UWIDEF, also urged the students to continue to do their very best, adding that programmes such the scholarship presentation are at the heart of the fund’s function.
Responding on behalf of the quintet, Rochelle Stephen reiterated the “life-changing” nature of the scholarship, adding that she was unable to fully express the importance of being able to continue on their respective educational journeys. She pledged to heed the call for continued excellence and bring honour to the institution, to their families and the nation.
UWIDEF Project Officer Francine Warren-Kidd, who presided over the ceremony, thanked Marubeni and all the partners involved in bringing the scholarship presentation to fruition. The ceremony, she said, marked not the end of the collaboration, but a new beginning.
Marubeni, in seeking to contribute to the development of Jamaica, has been supporting worthy initiatives in a number of areas, education being primary among them.
Following on the tremendous success of its 2022 staging, MBJ Airports Limited (MBJ)/Team Sangster is inviting the community and corporate Jamaica to join them for their 2023 Run/Walk on Sunday, September 10, 2023, at 6:00 a.m. (Warm up at 5:30 a.m.)
The event will once again underline the commitment of MBJ, operators of Sangster International Airport, to supporting the education of our most vulnerable students.
Last year, the team raised over J$4.5 million, thanks to the generous contributions of sponsors, donors, and over 1,400 participants. All proceeds from the event went directly towards enabling students at the Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary levels to access much-needed academic grants. The recipients included airport employees, their children and dependents, individuals from the surrounding communities, as well as four (4) community-based organizations targeting the growth and development of persons with special needs. Over 50 students benefited directly from the proceeds of the event in 2022 and the goal this year is to impact the lives of more students.
Prizes to be won by participating in the event include airline tickets from JetBlue, Spirit and Virgin Airlines, as well as weekend stays at Couples, Hyatt, Hilton, Zoetry, and S Hotel and day passes at Royalton. Additional prizes include Chukka Adventure Tour excursions; tablets from Digicel; gift baskets from Tortuga, Reggae Mart, and CPJ; and gifts from the Airports Authority of Jamaica and MBJ Airports Limited. Participants will be refreshed after the race with breakfast, courtesy of Express Catering Limited, Goddard Catering Group, VIP Attractions Limited, and CPJ Beverage Station and will also be able to enjoy an after race massage.
The fee is J$2,000 for adults and J$1,500 for children. Participants will have the option to register for a 5/10K Run or 5K Walk, which will run from the Commercial Pick-up Area at the Sangster International Airport to Flanker/Whitehouse. Registration closes on Wednesday, September 6. For further information, go to http://www.runningeventsja.com/
MBJ/Team Sangster wishes to thank all its generous sponsors and donors and looks forward to an even bigger Run/Walk on September 10.
Parking will be available at the Cargo Terminal on the airport but participants are encouraged to carpool and a shuttle will be provided to transport participants to the event area. Come out and participate for your health, and fun and to contribute to a worthy cause.
The 2023/2024 academic year starts on September 4. Joseph wellington
Technologyhas been a godsend for parents and children. Toddlers can be seen reading, singing along, and doing simple arithmetic via games before they even begin preschool.
As we hear parents complaining about the expensive booklists to get their children ready for “September morning”, we believe that more textbooks should be available online, although we understand that some workbooks may still have to be bought.
We welcome the news from Minister of Education and Youth Fayval Williams that her ministry will be holding sensitisation sessions to promote greater use of e-books. She posted on social media, “The biggest advantage of e-textbooks is the ability to include videos, animations, and simulations to help students understand complex concepts and make learning more fun.”
This sent me back to a lecture in 2017 by Edie Weiner, founder and CEO of Future Hunters. I share here revised excerpts from my column in April 2017 on her look at education.
Weiner turned to the hot topic of education, reminding us that the brain grows fastest before the age of three and that it is ridiculous that after being exposed to iPads and smartphones children are then taken to schools that are still using the same system that was designed for their grandparents. This was actually quoted at the finale of the Education Enrichment Programme, which, with the support of the then Ministry of Education, Youth and Information; USAID; and the Digicel Foundation, covered 104 schools, improving the literacy and numeracy of 43,000 primary school students.
The enrichment centres in 43 schools, which are heavy on information technology and bright visuals, particularly attractive to boys, have turned unenthusiastic students into high achievers. This was reinforced by Weiner as she demonstrated the difference between the way that male and female brains develop and what stimulates this development.
Weiner predicted a dramatic transformation in the delivery of education. According to her, information technology will make education available to millions in experiential forms. Therefore, she says, “critical thinking is the most important thing we can teach our young people”.
She says that all of this recent technology is creating disruption. “In future,” she says, “no one will be paying for ‘smart’, only ‘intelligent’. This is the kind of intelligence that will enable you to figure out things that you have never seen before.”
She suggested that university students should not major in any one thing but take multi-disciplinary courses and challenge themselves to see the connection. The Antiguan student who sat all 26 Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) subjects seems to have been on the right track.
While we need to limit the time our children spend on gaming, we should note that there is a brand new category of sports called e-sports. Wiener said that video games are evolving into competitive events, one of which was held in California, attracting 35 million online viewers. She said that universities will shortly be recruiting students who excel at e-sports for their teams.
IGT’s After School Advantage Programme, Digicel Foundation, and NCB Foundation this summer sponsored coding and robotics camps, gearing our children to make the best use of technology, learning how to create websites and apps that can create a better planet.
Let us allow our children to transition to the new school term, making use of technology to give them the best chance at navigating this Fourth Industrial Revolution described thus by the World Economic Forum (WEF): “The Fourth Industrial Revolution represents a fundamental change in the way we live, work, and relate to one another. It is a new chapter in human development, enabled by extraordinary technology advances commensurate with those of the first, second, and third industrial revolutions. These advances are merging the physical, digital, and biological worlds in ways that create both huge promise and potential peril.”
“The speed, breadth, and depth of this revolution is forcing us to rethink how countries develop, how organisations create value, and even what it means to be human. The Fourth Industrial Revolution is about more than just technology-driven change; it is an opportunity to help everyone, including leaders, policymakers, and people from all income groups and nations, to harness converging technologies in order to create an inclusive, human-centred future. The real opportunity is to look beyond technology and find ways to give the greatest number of people the ability to positively impact their families, organisations, and communities.”
The gift of technology is that regardless of the size of one’s country, the tools are there to help us stand shoulder-to-shoulder with leading professionals anywhere in the world. Let us seize the day.
Running for worthy causes
MBJ/TEAMSANGSTER 2022 5K winners Brandon Kerr (left) and Danielle Terrier
MBJ Airports Limited/Team Sangster raised $4.5 million last year from their run-walk, which went in entirety to academic grants for primary, secondary, and tertiary students. They are back again on Sunday, September 10, with generous sponsors stepping up to give great prizes: airline tickets from JetBlue, Spirit, and Virgin airlines; as well as weekend stays at Couples Resorts, Hyatt, Hilton, Zoetry, and S Hotel; and day passes at Royalton Luxury Resorts. Additional prizes include Chukka Adventure Tour excursions; tablets from Digicel; gift baskets from Tortuga, Reggae Mart, and CPJ; and gifts from the Airports Authority of Jamaica and MBJ Airports Limited. Participants will be refreshed after the race with breakfast, courtesy of Express Catering Limited, Goddard Catering Group, VIP Attractions Limited, and CPJ beverage station and will also be able to enjoy an after-race massage.
Deadline for registration is this Wednesday, September 6. The fee is $2,000 for adults and $1,500 for children. Participants will have the option to register for a 5/10K run or 5K walk, which will run from the commercial pickup area at the Sangster International Airport to Flanker/Whitehouse.
Meanwhile, Bert’s Auto Parts has partnered with Food For the Poor Jamaica in its 4oth anniversary Build Back the Love house-building programme. The Build with Bert’s 5K will be held on Sunday, October 1 at Emancipation Park, with the target of US$49,000, the cost of building 10 houses.
Marketing Manager Waynette Strachan noted that the company has been giving back over the years in appreciation of the support from their fellow Jamaicans. I can attest to that as Bert’s is a kind discount partner of CCRP.
Andrea Williams-McKenzie honoured with CBE
King Charles converses with Andrea Williams-McKenzie, CBE after her investiture.
Our family was delighted to learn that Andrea Williams-McKenzie was invested with the Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by King Charles III earlier this year at Windsor Castle.
A human resource development specialist, Williams-McKenzie has led significant projects for the Government. One of the most challenging was leading the workforce planning, resourcing, and training to support all UK borders for the 2012 Olympics, an unqualified success.
Williams-McKenzie volunteers widely. She was a school foundation governor for her church parish, chair of governors for the parish Roman Catholic primary school, and a Eucharistic minister. She has been volunteering at the winter homeless shelter and in other community activities.
Williams-McKenzie has joined the ranks of famous individuals who have been invested with the CBE, such as Stephen Hawking, Harold Pinter, Hugh Laurie, Jonny Wilkinson, and Helena Bonham Carter.
Gratitude! Staff and students from the Lyssons School for Special Needs were excited to share in the handover of the newly renovated Pear Tree River campus which will serve as an extension of the school’s secondary school programme. From left are: Kaydian Woodcock-Brown, Wilmore Simpson, Merva Watson, Dwight Dawkins, Vanessa Cooper, Education Minister Hon. Fayval Williams, Althea Burke, Michelle Charles MP, Lyssons School Acting Principal Jacqueline Hendricks, Arlene Barnes, Mesheka Morgan, Meisha Clarke and Jean Lowrie-Chin, Digicel Foundation Chair.
The quiet rural community of Pear Tree River in St. Thomas was abuzz recently, when students, parents and staff members joined representatives of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information (MOEYI) and the Digicel Foundation for the official handover ceremony of a remodeled school for special needs. Formerly Pear Tree River Primary School, the building will accommodate 60 students aged 13 to 21, doubling the number of available spaces for Special Needs students in the parish. The school focus will be on life skills and vocational training programmes, including agriculture, cooking, sewing, carpentry, tiling, and data entry.
Pear Tree River is the second Special Needs institution to be renovated by the Digicel Foundation in St. Thomas. It will serve as a “sister school” to the Lyssons School for Special Education, which was renovated in 2018 under the Foundation’s Centres of Excellence programme. That school is now fully subscribed with 60 students enrolled. Digicel Foundation’s Special Needs partnership with the MOEYI has enabled the renovation and construction of five Special Needs Units to date.
Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Fayval Williams, in her remarks, expressed her appreciation for Digicel Foundation’s commitment: “They have just been consistent in their support for the education sector,” she noted, adding: “We welcome our partnership with Digicel Foundation. I want to implore the community here to support the school in its activities, the care of students and the property. Special commendations to the staff who worked diligently for our students.”
Chair of the Digicel Foundation Jean Lowrie-Chin said: “Our vision at the Digicel Foundation is to help create a world where no one gets left behind. Fully supported by everyone in Digicel, over the last 16 years the Digicel Foundation has completed over twelve hundred projects and helped nearly 7,000 persons in Jamaica…When we all join together as we are doing today with Minister Williams and her fine professionals at the Education Ministry, the citizenry and our Digicel Foundation team, nothing can stand in the way of the betterment of our people.”
We care! Janet Brimm (second right), Regional Director at the MOEYI for Region 2, presents a plaque to thank the Digicel Foundation as they open their fourth Special Needs school in the MOEYI’s Region 2. The plaque is presented to (from left) Charmaine Daniels, CEO, Jean Lowrie-Chin, Chairperson and Carnel Campbell, Project Construction Manager.
Charmaine Daniels, CEO of the Digicel Foundation, pointed out: “While COVID-19 remains a serious challenge, we are determined to press ahead with our commitment to Special Needs students and their families – especially those in the most remote rural areas. We have recognized the tremendous demand for quality education at the secondary level; vocational training is important for many of these students as they will soon transition into adulthood and need the necessary skills to be productive members of society. We are looking forward to seeing the students equipped with really practical tools that will enable them to go out and live independent lives.”
Digicel Foundation has ensured that the newly renovated building meets all guidelines for safety and accessibility with a new perimeter fence, paved roadway for vehicular access, wider doorways and ramps for wheelchair access, upgraded roof, electrical rewiring, and other fixtures.
The school has already begun accepting students with parameters in place for distance learning and plans being set for when the MOEYI resumes face-to-face classes.
Minister Williams concluded: “I cannot say thank you enough to Digicel Foundation, to the community, and to all who worked to make this day a possibility.”
The Reliance Basic School in Braeton, St Catherine is in for a major upgrade, thanks to a partnership between 2017 Digicel Rising Star winner Akeem “Short Boss” Smith and Digicel Foundation. Akeem has chosen the school as his charity of choice to benefit from the Foundation’s donation of J$1.5 million that’s part of his overall winnings in the talent show.
“The world is nothing without education,” said Akeem, whose daughter is in her second year at the early childhood institution. “The school is where we start to prepare our young ones to go out into the world. It is so important, not only for our community of Phase Three, Braeton – Portmore, but also for children from outside the area to come here and learn. It means everything to me.”
The funds will go towards renovation and expansion of classrooms, building a resource area, setting up a multipurpose room and erecting a perimeter fence. Akeem is elated that he is able to make such a great impact. He shared, “I want the kids from the community to have a more comfortable environment – a ‘home away from home.’ This will really encourage them to learn more.”
The school has been serving the community since 1988 and currently has forty-eight pupils on roll. Principal, Judith Royal Gardner welcomed the partnership and commented, “The Reliance Basic School is most grateful for the assistance.” She is especially delighted that the school will have a fence that will provide a safer environment for students. Principal Royal Gardner is hopeful that the planned improvements will help Reliance Basic to obtain certification from the Early Childhood Commission – a goal the administration is working hard to achieve.
CEO of the Digicel Foundation, Dane Richardson, said the Foundation is delighted to be partnering with another Rising Star winner this year. “We congratulate Akeem on his win,” Richardson shared. “We are happy to be working with him on this project. Clearly, he is a man with a strong community spirit, and this will be a welcome contribution.”
Principal Royal Gardner is optimistic about the future: “This is where everything starts. This is the foundation. We are looking forward to providing much more for our students, thanks to Akeem and the Digicel Foundation.”
Against the backdrop of the usual noise associated with political campaigns, a serious message may have been missed this week when the GraceKennedy Foundation renewed its commitment to research work at the University of the West Indies. The foundation funds research activities through the Carlton Alexander Chair in Management Studies and the James Moss-Solomon Chair in Environmental Management.
Chief executive officer of GraceKennedy, Senator Don Wehby, said the UWI must be known as a centre for solutions and a leader in promoting innovation and innovative thinking.
Increasingly, society is looking to tertiary institutions, like the UWI, to use their enormous human resources to bend the curve of technology in the 21st Century and deliver greater opportunities for economic growth and development to future generations.
As Jamaica faces challenges in social justice, health, agriculture, climate change and other areas relevant to national development, it is imperative that new research be undertaken to find ways of mitigating the impact of these challenges on society. These decades-old obstacles throw up numerous opportunities for academics to demonstrate the reach and impact their work can have.
Research is an expensive business and will not flourish without appropriate and consistent funding. Most of the research in tertiary institutions comes from external sources, including philanthropic organisations and private-sector entities. For these investors, it is assumed that they would be keen to measure the success of their investment by effective outcomes.
The results of such research cannot just be displayed during exhibitions at a designated time each year. This new knowledge gathered through research must be used in policy development. The results of research are critical in influencing development of policy, helping to shape legislation, and even to alter behaviours that are found to be detrimental to the common good.
UNDERSTANDING SCIENCE
It may take some convincing to get politicians to understand the science behind the research work, and even harder to get new policy implemented. However, we now have a minister of science and technology in Dr Andrew Wheatley, who has qualifications in biochemistry and chemistry and is a research scientist.
It may, therefore, be left to him to work with the scientific community to convey the idea of research-based evidence by demonstrating to his parliamentary colleagues how the findings were tested, debated and reviewed before achieving consensus.
Recent pronouncements by Dr Wheatley that Jamaica is not lagging in scientific research have been challenged by a letter writer to The Gleaner. The reader, who describes himself as a Jamaican with a scientific background, who has left the island to pursue opportunities overseas, decried the fact that “large-scale investment in scientific research is lacking”.
He suggested that there needs to be a scientific research culture in Jamaica. He lamented the lack of funding as one reason why persons passionate about science have become discouraged.
CRITICAL STEPS
It is indeed a fact that for the country’s research to serve the community well and command global attention funding, it is critical to provide qualified academics and procure equipment and infrastructure to facilitate their work.
Traditionally, policymakers tend to be heavily influenced by what is popular rather than evidence-based research, and this is why research-informed evidence is not assigned the place of importance it deserves in policymaking. It is time to bridge that substantial gap between research and policy.
2016 annual report shows strong growth in outreach, impact
Over 800,000 Jamaicans were positively touched by the work of the Digicel Jamaica Foundation during the organisation’s previous financial year, the Foundation said in a news release Friday.
This amounts to nearly one in every four Jamaicans directly or indirectly benefitting from the Foundation’s partnerships in education, special needs, entrepreneurship, and community development.
A local private philanthropic entity, the Digicel Foundation invested US$3.6 million ($460.8 million) over the past year in schools and communities islandwide. The figure was disclosed at the launch of the organisation’s annual report held at the Digicel Building in downtown Kingston on Thursday.
The report highlights that the foundation gave more than it had originally planned for the medium term 2013 to 2016; in some cases tripling initial targets. As examples, allocations for special needs teacher training and the number of social enterprises funded were increased.
An original idea to positively impact the lives of 75,000 Jamaicans under the foundation’s community development agenda, instead recorded a total reach of 214,164 persons.
“The dedicated Digicel Foundation team members were inspired by our partners, local and international, Government, and private sector,” noted Digicel Foundation Chairman Jean Lowrie-Chin. “We saw their resolve and dedication, resulting in higher educational achievements, greater awareness, and respect for our special needs community and extensive job creation.”
In explaining why more lives have been positively influenced by the expanded focus, Chief Executive Officer of the Digicel Foundation Samantha Chantrelle stated: “We received unwavering support from our project partners and beneficiaries which aided us in having a stronger impact on the lives of our fellow Jamaicans.”
The organisation’s commitment to supporting the special needs community continued this year as it funded 14 significant projects across the island in coordination with local and international partners.
The parish of Portland felt the greatest impact, with over 507,000 lives being touched by the work of the organisation. A Centre of Excellence which was constructed to support a range of physical, behavioural and intellectual special needs was the centrepiece of the various projects executed in the parish over the past year.
Other landmark ventures included: the Ramps in School Programme; the provision of 32 mobile science laboratories to as many high schools; the training of teachers of students with special needs; and partnerships with several community groups to expand entrepreneurial activities.
In its 12 years of existence, the Digicel Foundation has successfully implemented 737 projects at a cost of over $3 billion;as the organisation continues to work with dedicated partners in order to achieve Jamaica’s development goals.
The Digicel Foundation, a non-profit organisation, was established in September 2004 and is committed to supporting the development of Jamaica through a number of socially impactful projects.
The main objectives of the Digicel Foundation include driving efforts to achieve Jamaica’s Millennium Development Goal of increased literacy; the use of information and communication technology (ICT) tools and equipment in primary schools and increased training for teachers; enhancing the care of special needs children across the island in a variety of ways, including training for teachers; and the pursuit of sustainable projects and partnerships for community development.
Event raises some J$4M for Pocket Rocket Foundation Education Fund
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce with the memorabilia auctioned.
On Thursday, May 5, GraceKennedy supported Jamaica’s first ever silent auction put on by its Ambassador Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. The auction featuring mobile bidding for signed sports memorabilia exceeded its intended target of $3million, raising a whopping $4 million plus for the scholarship fund for Shelly-Ann’s Pocket Rocket Foundation. The event, held at The Spanish Court Hotel Hall, was supported by GraceKennedy’s FGB, GKRS, GK General Insurance and GraceKennedy Corporate brands.
With Dr. Michael Abrahams as MC and President of the Pocket Rocket Foundation Bruce James guiding the mobile bidding process, regular updates on the popular items were provided to encourage the audience to submit their best offers. The 14 items available fetched impressive bids, with a jersey from superstar footballer Neymar Jr., shoes from LeBron James and spikes from Shelly-Ann attracting the highest individual bids. A precision timepiece by Swiss watchmakers Ernst Benz and a signed 2014 PGA Championship Valhalla flag donated by PGA Golfer Rory Mcllroy, also attracted impressive bids.
Guest speaker, Olympian Sherone Simpson shared stories of her success, despite the pressures of a demanding athletic career and her focus on her academics.
Guests included Shelly-Ann’s sponsors, Board Members of the Pocket Rocket Foundation, MVP Track & Field Club teammates and sports enthusiasts.
Jamaica Highlights 