Digicel Foundation Celebrates Digicel’s 22nd Anniversary with Braille Machine Donation to School for the Blind

Kingston, Jamaica- April 19, 2023: In celebration of Digicel Jamaica’s 22^nd anniversary, its philanthropic arm, the Digicel Foundation, donated Braille Machines to the Salvation Army School for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

The machines, valued at nearly half a million dollars, were handed over to the students and staff on Thursday, April 19 at the school’s Mannings Hill Road location.

Speaking at the handover, CEO of the Digicel Foundation, Charmaine Daniels shared, “We have been blessed so much as an organization that on this, Digicel’s 22^nd birthday, we wanted to give back. Special Needs is one of the Foundation’s key pillars and under this pillar, we aim to promote access to resources, especially to education, for persons with disabilities.”

Miss Daniels encouraged the school’s administrators to continue their work changing the lives of the country’s most vulnerable.

“The work that you do is so impactful and I know sometimes it gets hard because you may not have all the resources you need. We are inspired by the students who attend this institution because they face so many challenges but they preserve. We love what the school is doing and will continue to support it in whatever way we can,” Miss Daniels shared.

The school’s principal, Iyeke Erharuyi, expressed gratitude to Digicel Foundation for their kind donation. “We are always writing letters to corporate companies, requesting assistance to purchase braille machines. However, Digicel Foundation, without us even asking, donated these machines to us. We are grateful and we have not forgotten that Digicel Foundation gifted us US$500 during the Christmas period without us asking.”

Mr. Erharuyi shared that the school is in dire need of Braille Machines. “As a school, the Braille Machine is like a pen or pencil to us. Braille Machines are sourced from overseas and those who are fortunate to have one know that they are very expensive. We have 132 students at the school but only 26 machines are in use.”