Finance minister, Dr Nigel Clarke (left); CEO of Bluefields Villas, Debbie Moncure (centre) and Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett cut the ribbon to officially mark the opening of four new suites at the villas. (Photos: Kimberley Peddie).
BLUEFIELDS, Westmoreland — Bluefields Bay Villas has raised the bar in luxury accommodations, adding four new suites to the property, a move the tourism minister says will take marketing to another dimension.
The all-inclusive collection of six villas nestled on Jamaica’s south coast has now grown to 27 suites. The new one-bedroom suites each have a private veranda and access to a shared infinity edge pool that overlooks the ocean.
The target is the higher end of the market.
“We have been pushing an up-market, high-dollar tourism in Jamaica and we’re continuing to do so. We are hoping that this first expansion is just one of the many phases in what we are hoping to do here in Bluefields,” said Managing Director Houston Moncure.
He was speaking with the JamaicaObserver at the official opening of the suites on Sunday. Guests included minister of finance, Dr Nigel Clarke; Minster of tourism, Edmund Bartlett; US ambassador to Jamaica, Nick Perry; Jamaica’s ambassador to the United States, Audrey Marks; and senior strategist in the Ministry of Tourism, Delano Seiveright.
Bluefields Bay Villas CEO Debbie Moncure and her husband Braxton said their son Houston was the conceptualiser of the suites.
“Houston came up with [the] concept and so he went to the architect — otherwise known as me — and we developed the suites,” she said with a chuckle.
Debbie, who was born in New York and holds a BA in Art History from Tufts University and a Masters of Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania, moved to Washington, DC, immediately upon finishing her graduate studies. She met her husband Braxton in DC and they began coming to Jamaica together in the late 1970s. They were married in Bluefields in 1983. The couple celebrated their 40-year anniversary during the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new suites.
Speaking at the ceremony, the tourism minister lauded the Moncures for their contribution to the industry.
“Tourists have come and they have really become a part of Bluefields. When you come to this area people talk about it and I get messages, I get calls — some are wonderful calls Houston, and some are about the development and the joy it brings,” Bartlett said.
“The addition of this innovation is going to mean a lot more to us than you. No other country has the hosting capacity that we have. For all the pain and suffering that tourism offers to this country, we are the only industry that has grown every quarter for the last 35 years,” he boasted.
Bartlett added that growth has spiralled over the years.
“In the last nine quarters the growth has been spectacular, absolutely phenomenal but that growth has happened now because of people like Houston who have come up with ideas and have brought innovations and have enabled more people to come to us. What you are doing is going to enable me to take marketing to another dimension,” the minister said.
Houston stressed that the Villa supports the local community.
“We believe our model of tourism is really good for Jamaica,” he said.
Minister of Finance Dr Nigel Clarke (left); Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett (second left), and senior strategist in the Ministry of Tourism, Delano Seiveright (third left) tour the newly opened suites at Bluefields Bay Villas. They are joined by villa operators, Braxton (third right), Debbie (second right) and Houston Moncure.Bluefields Bay Villas CEO Braxton Moncure walks to one of the newly added suites.A bathtub on the private veranda overlooking the ocean is one of the features of the new suites at Bluefields Bay Villas.
Jamaica’s Danielle Williams takes ussies with fans as she celebrates after winning the women’s 100m hurdles final. Contributed photo: ANDREJ ISAKOVIC.
It was an amazing week for our Jamaican athletes and their fans as we ran, jumped, and hammer threw vicariously with them at the Budapest 2023 World Athletics Championships.
At the time of writing, Jamaica is second to the US in the points standings, with Kenya in third place. In medal standings we are fourth behind the US, Canada, and Spain. What a performance by our team, with gold medals from Danielle Williams in the women’s 100m hurdles, young Antonio Watson in the 400m event, and Shericka Jackson in a World Championships record of 21.41 seconds in the women’s 200m. We copped silvers from Hansle Parchment in the 110m hurdles, Wayne Pinnock in the long jump, Shericka Jackson in the 100m and the women’s 4×100 relay.
Antonio Watson Contributed photo: Naphtali Junior.
It was in the women’s 4×100 relay that Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce once again showed her grit. We noticed that she was not moving with her usual rhythm towards the end of her second leg to hand over the baton to Sashalee Forbes and at the end of the brilliant silver-medal run was not seen. We learnt later that she pulled a muscle in her right knee and had gone to get medical attention. What a champion she is! Track and field analyst Bruce James noted that the reflex action in such emergencies is to drop the baton and hold the injured limb but that mothers respond differently. “Mothers are amazing,” he enthused. “Shelly is amazing.”
We congratulate Shelly-Ann on her bronze in the 100m and the other bronze winners Rushell Clayton in the 400m hurdles, Tajay Gayle in the long jump and the men’s 4×100 relay. All team members deserve kudos because points are awarded up to eighth place, depending on the event, and it must have been their never-say-die attitude in the face of some of the biggest stars that took us to number two in the points tally.
Shericka Jackson Contributed photo – Naphtali Junior
Can Jamaica shine too?
Leahcim Semaj, basking in the glory of our athletes, posted questions that this column has been asking since 2008: “What if … Jamaica, as a nation, replicate the model that we have successfully used to become world-class in athletics in other areas of national life? Do we have the will? Is there the leadership?” I believe the key question is: Do we have the will? We have quality people in our Houses of Parliament and in our Cabinet, but it continues to be a puzzle as to why some are so slow to step up and deliver. We hear complaints about low productivity in areas of public service but in this day of high tech there must be ways to measure this.
On a positive note, our team members who attended a forum held by the Norman Manley International Airport last Friday, said that Opposition spokesman on transportation Mikael Phillips hailed Minister Daryl Vaz for speedily addressing the issues which now fall to his portfolio.
That same day Vaz saw to the off-loading of 50 new buses for the Jamaica Urban Transit Company. Jamaicans with disabilities will be happy to hear that these vehicles have been modified to accommodate those with mobility issues. We have ministers who can hold their own anywhere in the world and we can only hope they are not being held back by the internal political tensions that occur in both parties.
This is what we value in the world of athletics: When you are out there on the track or in the field, no one can try to hide your achievements. When you submit yourself to testing no one can accuse you of unethical behaviour. Although she was not selected for the 4×100, Elaine Thompson-Herah posted on social media: “Well done, ladies (heart emojis). One side Jamaica (flag emoji).”
A coalition for good
People have scoffed at Economic Programme Oversight Committee Chairman Keith Duncan’s call for a coalition of political parties to tackle the hard challenges that the country must overcome. This is because we are so steeped in this hostile political environment that we refuse to look towards the “One Jamaica” of which Thompson-Herah speaks.
As we tackle this crime monster, which has now resulted in the second firebombing, we refuse to accept that our political representatives could be so callous as to refuse to come together and agree on crime-fighting solutions.
Naomi “Miss Sweeney” Gocul, a senior citizen beloved by her neighbours, lost her life because of the cruel injuries she received from the Gregory Park firebombing. Jamaica’s senior citizens are the bedrock of their communities and the most faithful voters, there should be no question about finding the ways and means to protect these goodly Jamaicans.
Our netball star Latanya Wilson and her family were burnt out in the Central Kingston firebombing. How can this be her reward for flying our flag so high? Many of our athletes come from very humble communities, it is cynical to have time for them only when they bring us glory but have little care for the conditions under which they live.
May the achievements of our hard-working athletes inspire us to turn a new page for Jamaica. Where there is a will, there is a way.
Norman and Cecile Jarrett enjoy themselves at a CCRP party.
Happy 100th, Norman Jarrett!
CCRP, the advocacy organisation for seniors, has been joining forces with the National Council for Senior Citizens to celebrate the 100th birthdays of Jamaicans.
Yesterday we made a special presentation to CCRP 2017 Living Legacy Honoree Norman Jarrett, who was born on July 27, 1923.
He is a passionate activist for the improvement of literacy among Jamaica’s young students and established the Norman and Cecile Jarrett Literacy Improvement Programme with his wife, fellow educator Cecile, in 2011. Through this programme, the Jarretts work with primary school students in the downtown Kingston area to improve their literacy. The project has been embraced by the Kiwanis Club of Downtown Kingston, of which he is the chairman of the Human and Spiritual Values Committee.
Jarrett’s career as a teacher began in 1941 at Annotto Bay Elementary School as a pretrained teacher. After graduating from Mico Teachers’ College [now The Mico University College] he served as an all-age school principal for 20 years and at another school for nine years.
He was music coordinator and teacher at Papine High School for three years and spent the following 18 years as the training coordinator at the Jamaica Industrial Corporation and as an inspector and travelling officer with the Factories Corporation of Jamaica.
As a perennial volunteer, Jarrett has taught music at the Church of the Transfiguration Basic School for 30 years and he served as the full-time organist at Stella Maris Roman Catholic Church for 22 years. The spry Jarrett still finds time to play the organ on a part-time basis in several churches around Jamaica, The Bahamas, and Canada. Among his many awards, he has received the Badge of Honour for Long and Faithful Service in the fields of music and education.
Happy 100th Birthday to a great Jamaican, Norman Jarrett, and congratulations to his supportive wife Cecile and other members of their caring family.
Jean Lowrie-Chin is the executive chair of PROComm and CCRP.
Mrs Jean Lowrie-Chin, who Jamaicans will call blessed for her work with the Caribbean Community of Retired Persons (CCRP), hit the nail squarely on the head in her very helpful column in this newspaper.
“As hard as it is on Jamaicans to hear news of crime and violence, it is even worse for our elderly, especially those in violence-prone communities.
“Many suffer from underlying medical issues and disabilities and so the saying, ‘You can’t run, you can’t hide’ applies to them, literally. Besides that, abuse of the elderly is not only one of the most cruel and silent crimes in Jamaica, but also worldwide,” she wrote.
It is hard not feel a sense of remorse when one sees how senior citizens exist in Jamaica, generally speaking. The squalor bred by poverty that is the lot of too many in the rural parts is ugly and stomach-turning.
Add to that food security, inadequate access to specialised geriatric care, the high levels of violence and elder abuse pointed out by Mrs Lowrie Chin, and low levels of social security that expose them to sexual assaults and robbery.
There was once a popular view that one could judge the civilisation of a society by the way it treats its senior citizens, respecting them for their presumed experience, wisdom, and maturity. That appears to be a view of the past.
But Jamaica had better wake up to the reality that the country’s population is rapidly ageing. Our own Planning Institute of Jamaica insists that the population is becoming top heavy, with the elderly population — that is people aged 65 and over — expected to double by 2050, when they will constitute almost 20 per cent of the total population.
So, like the rest of the world, Jamaica will face the fact that an ageing population holds significant implications, such as will be immediately felt in labour market shortages and in the inadequacy of pension plans. That is in the short term and not somewhere off into the distant future.
In the latest revision of the National Policy for Senior Citizens, the state of the country’s aged is fairly accurately assessed and solutions to the challenges proposed through a multi-stakeholder approach designed to address social, economic and health barriers. We, of course, were dismayed to learn that only 23 per cent of the elderly have health insurance.
The stark reality is that the Government is doing almost as much as it can, given the limited resources, through programmes like the Jamaica Drugs for the Elderly, the National Health Fund, the National Insurance Scheme, the National Committee for Senior Citizens, and several others.
But a lot more will be necessary before we can hold our heads high about our treatment of the elderly.
The talk about forcing children to be responsible for their elderly parents is too thorny an issue to be relied on as a workable solution.
We might need to consider a two per cent tax on salaries above $10 million a year to build more infirmaries and assisted living facilities, increase social pension benefits, expand feeding programmes, subsidise transportation, and monitor private nursing homes, many of which are a putrid excuse for such.
This kind of tax will recognise the importance of tackling the problem as a national one and should be considered, even if it means putting it to a referendum.
Entertainer Richie Spice (centre) hands over items to the Rock Hall Primary principal while Miguel ‘Steppa’ Williams, Community Development Manager at the Digicel Foundation, looks on.
The Richie Spice Foundation is giving back to the community of Rock Hall with a donation to the ‘Groovin My Girl’ singer’s alma mater – Rock Hall Primary.
In a handover on April 7, the singer presented eight tablets, one laptop and music equipment to the school’s principal. The donation was made possible through a partnership with the Digicel Foundation.
“I born and grow in Rock Hall, my siblings went to the Rock Hall All Age as it was them time,” explained Richie Spice. “I am the fruit and this is my root and Digicel Foundation help I man to set the Foundation once again with music and tablets for the youths.”
The Digicel Foundation has identified connectivity as a major issue for students in Jamaica, with a large push to provide devices to those in need. So far, the foundation has distributed over 1,500 SIM-enabled tablets to students.
“The Foundation continues to assist students with connectivity and devices,” said Miguel ‘Steppa’ Williams, Community Development Manager at the Digicel Foundation. “This partnership with the Richie Spice Foundation is one of technology and music, as we seek to positively engage our children and our communities. Indeed we are better together, together we stand.”
In March 2020, the Digicel Foundation launched their Operation SAFE Mode campaign to ‘Sanitise, Advocate, Feed and Enable Students’ during the pandemic. The Foundation intends to reinvigorate this drive in 2021 as they continue to assist persons during the pandemic.
The National Road Safety Council (NRSC) has partnered with researchers from the Johns Hopkins Centre for Injury Research & Policy at the Bloomberg School of Health in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, towards a comprehensive multi-disciplinary approach to prioritising road safety on a national level in Jamaica.
In partnership with the Faculty of Medical Sciences, UWI, Mona, the Jamaica National (JN) Group, and Jamaica National General Insurance (JNGI), the NRSC staged an insightful public lecture entitled “Lessons from the Past, Looking to the Future: Making the Case for Road Safety to be a National Priority.” Research Professors Andrea Gielen, ScD, and Keshia Pollack, PhD, detailed the history of road safety in the United States and compared that country’s challenges with our own.
(From Left) Vice-Chairman of the National Road Safety Council (NRSC) Dr. Lucien Jones, Professor Andrea Gielen, UWI Consultant Psychiatrist Winston De La Haye, Professor Keshia Pollack, and Dean of the Faculty of Medical Sciences Dr. Tomlin Paul share a laugh following the public lecture “Lessons from the Past, Looking to the Future: Making the Case for Road Safety to be a National Priority,” put on by the NRSC on Thursday, May 3 at the University of the West Indies.
Although there has been a reduction in road fatalities through a combination of improvements in what the researchers termed the three E’s: Engineering, Enforcement, and Education, the numbers of fatalities islandwide are still too high. In recognition that no roadway deaths are acceptable, they spoke about “changing the safety culture” in Jamaica, pointing to what they called the ‘Safe Systems Approach’ which led to declines of greater than 50% in crash death rates in Sweden. The ‘Road to Zero’ campaign is a long-term goal that incorporates doubling-down on the measures that have so far proven successful, accelerating advanced technology in automobile and road design, and prioritizing safety initiatives that have been identified.
Research Professors Keshia Pollack (left), and Andrea Gielen, from the Johns Hopkins Centre for Injury Research & Policy at the Bloomberg School of Health in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, respond to questions from the audience following their public lecture “Lessons from the Past, Looking to the Future: Making the Case for Road Safety to be a National Priority,” hosted by the National Road Safety Council on Thursday, May 3 at the University of the West Indies.
Hosted by the NRSC, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health researchers were in the island this week for the lecture and to begin the process of producing a gap analysis (a comparison of actual performance with potential or desired performance) and provide recommendations for programming, policy, and/or research to reduce traffic related crashes, deaths, and injuries in Jamaica.
“We love to partner with people who want to focus on injury prevention,” said Professor Pollack. “[The NRSC is comprised of] great people with great passion and energy working on what we care so much about, that it’s going to be very useful to reduce motor vehicle crash deaths on the island.”
The study will include a further review of existing data sources and reports provided by the NRSC over a twelve (12) month period. They will identify and summarize the types of crashes, mechanisms of injury, and populations affected; determine priority traffic issues to be addressed; review relevant policies and programmes provided by the NRSC to determine alignment with priorities identified; conduct a literature review on traffic safety evidence relevant to the priority traffic issues, policies, and programmes identified; and ultimately provide a summary report with recommendations for existing and future surveillance, policy, programmes, research and evaluation.
In acknowledging Jamaica’s challenges with corruption and indiscipline on our roads, Professor Pollack posited that, “maybe we should be thinking about positive rewards as much as negative consequences.” Professor Gielen added, “In the workplace we know that positive rewards are more likely to influence the right behaviour than the penalties, but [the rewards] have to be what people value.”
Professor Gielen was hopeful about the short and long-term goals of the research: “It would be great if we could not only increase knowledge and awareness of safe systems and strategies, but also really walk away with some actionable recommendations to give to all the stakeholders here.”
She reiterated, “Zero is possible. One loss of life is too much, and we hope that people will come around to that [concept] on all levels.”
Howard Mitchell, PSOJ President; Endorsing the Launch of the JamaicaEye: The National CCTV System held at the National Indoor Sports Complex on March 14, 2018.
President of the Private Sector Organization of Jamaica (PSOJ) Howard Mitchell says there can be no progress nor prosperity unless the country develops our knowledge-based competence. Mitchell was speaking at the launch of the Ministry of National Security new initiative JamaicaEye.
“We live in a knowledge-based world, increasingly data gathering and the sharing of knowledge are critical to knowledge-based activities. We will not see progress nor prosperity unless we develop our knowledge-based competence. Communication is an integral part of knowledge-based activities,” said Mitchell.
President Mitchell went further to remind those in attendance that the PSOJ takes its responsibility as the premier based umbrella organization for the private sector very seriously. “We strive to be balanced and fair in our criticisms and we strive to be objective in our praise. It is no secret that we have been critical of the security management and strategy over the years that has been practicing in this country. And therefore, it is important that when we see a strategy worth action, that is comprehensively effective and that would make an impact that we endorse it; we give full praise to its originators.”
JamaicaEye is a three-phased implementation of a national closed-circuit television (CCTV) surveillance programme geared at a disaster response and public safety, which includes combating crime. Phase one of the project is the collaboration among key stakeholders and the MNS to establish a collective approach to CCTV surveillance.
Mitchell said that this programme is valuable, not only because of the impact it will have on crime, but is valuable because it serves as a template to show what participative democracy can do for the nation.
“I want to congratulate the Minister personally because I know of his commitment to participative democracy. He has never been shy to include all in his planning and in his deliberations and that alone makes this programme effective and it must serve as a template for all our activities in government and in civil society”, said Mitchell.
He further stated, “The PSOJ will be endorsing the system to our members individually and we will be supporting the Minister and this Ministry and all those involved in their promotion efforts.”
Jennifer McDonald, Chief Executive Officer, PSOJ; presenting at The UWI Mona Regional Disabilities Studies Conference on March 12, 2018.
The UWI Centre for Disability Studies (UWICDS) held its Regional Disability Studies Conference on Wednesday March
7, 2018. The theme for this conference is “Enhancing the Disability Agenda through Sports and Culture in the Caribbean.” The CEO of the PSOJ, Ms. Jennifer
McDonald, made a presentation at the Centre for Disability Studies regional
conference: “The importance of public-private partnership in the advocacy,
implementation and advancement of the lives of persons with disabilities in sports
and culture.”
McDonald informed the audience that addressing matters related to Disabilities is
one of PSOJ’s 4 core focus for 2018, which falls under Vulnerable Groups and
Gender Affairs. Other areas for advocacy includes: Innovation and Technology;
Climate Change; Crime and Public Safety.
“Jamaica possesses a strong platform with demonstrated excellence in Sports and
Culture locally, regionally and internationally” said Ms. McDonald. She reiterated
that “Our annual Boys and Girls Championships and the Jamaican festival
movement which have honed the skills of our athletes and artiste over the years.”
The actualisation of programmes and initiatives built through partnerships are
precedence of how public-private partnerships can work to improve these areas for
the advancement of Persons with Disabilities.
During her presentation McDonald quoted Sydney Thorpe, keyboard player of the
renowned Fab 5 – “People were fascinated because they had never seen a visually
challenged person playing three keyboards at a time, much less sitting on a revolving
stool, spinning and playing the keyboards … I didn’t have anything to prove to
anybody because I was in a band that was a top band,” he said.
Ms. McDonald, stated that, “the advancement of PWDs in sports and culture can
facilitate professional integration through the development of income generating
activities. These activities will also: promote increased participation of PWDs in
community life; increase the level of education of PWD through training; Educateand inform the wider public about PWDs and increase their chances of access to
basic social services.”
She further stated that, “members of the private sector can assist with the
advancement of PWDs in the areas of Sports and Culture by: having members of
their staff volunteer to work with institutions or organisations that provide services
to PWDs; making strategic decisions to support a particular sport, art form or
individual already engaging in either areas of discipline; making donations to
existing programmes or projects that will advance the exposure and improve on the
skills of PWDs in these areas.”
The UWI Centre for Disabilities Studies biennial conference is geared at bringing
together, the academic community, the public and private sector, civil society and
members from the community of persons with disabilities; in an academic
environment to articulate topics of critical importance to one of our most vulnerable
groups.
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.”
Kingston, Jamaica – Wednesday, April 05, 2017: Digicel, in a new partnership with Magna Rewards, announced it is expanding its loyalty programme, making it easier for customers to earn additional benefits and redeem them in more locations across Jamaica.
Now, Digicel prepaid and postpaid customers who earn loyalty points when they spend from main credit balances, pay bills or purchase a new device, will be able to use accumulated points at select Digicel stores and over 50 Magna Rewards partners islandwide.
“As customers’ expectations continue to evolve, we are focused on delivering benefits that are important to them, said David Butler, CEO of Digicel Jamaica. “Our customers have always looked forward to converting their loyalty points towards cool phones and bill payments. However, many of them wished they could have used these points towards other purchases, and now we have delivered on their expectations.”
Digicel customers can now redeem loyalty points at hardware stores, travel agencies, pharmacies, supermarkets and service stations that are part of the Magna Rewards network. This progression-based programme is part of a broader approach to deliver even more value to prepaid and postpaid subscribers.
Customers who signed up to keep loyalty points under the previous programme are now free to use them at the expanded locations. Those who missed this March 31 deadline, may complete an application form at their nearest Digicel store or visit go.magnarewards/Digicel.
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About Digicel Group
Digicel Group is a total communications and entertainment provider with operations in 33 markets in the Caribbean, Central America and Asia Pacific. After 15 years of operation, total investment to date stands at over US$5 billion worldwide. The company is renowned for delivering best value, best service and best network.
Digicel is the lead sponsor of Caribbean, Central American and Pacific sports teams, including the Special Olympics teams throughout these regions. Digicel sponsors the West Indies cricket team and is also the title sponsor of the Caribbean Premier League. In the Pacific, Digicel is the proud sponsor of several national rugby teams and also sponsors the Vanuatu cricket team.
Digicel also runs a host of community-based initiatives across its markets and has set up Digicel Foundations in Haiti, Jamaica, Papua New Guinea and Trinidad and Tobago which focus on educational, cultural and social development programmes.
Krystal Tomlinson, communications and engagement manager at Digicel Foundation, shares a word of encouragement with grade-five student Joseph Beckford as his classmate Danique Fogah and teacher Mark Blair look on.
Teacher at the Freetown Primary School, Mark Blair, shares with Communications and Engagement Manager at Digicel Foundation Krystal Tomlinson on how he’ll be using the audiovisual equipment to enrich the delivery of mathematics in his grade 5 classes. As part of the school’s numeracy intervention programme, Blair applied to Digicel Foundation for a ‘Mek A Muckle Grant’ to purchase a smart TV, projector and DVD player. His aim is to make math classes more interactive for students who were underperforming in the subject.
Jamaica Highlights 