Free WIFI project underway

A local charity’s WIFI project has made an online schooling programme initiated by the Haynesville Youth Club a reality.

Recognizing that the lack of internet has put some students at a disadvantage, The Truss & Pannell Charitable Foundation has stepped up to provide the old Police Outpost in Haynesville, St. James with the connectivity needed to ensure that children in the community can keep up with their studies during this COVID-19 period.

Aron Truss, one of the founders of the charity which was formerly known as The Aron & Christina Foundation launched the free WIFI project, alongside Attorney-at -Law and friend to the St. James South area Dr. Ronnie Yearwood and President of the Haynesville Youth Group Peter Skeete.

For over a decade The Aron & Christina Foundation was a household name with the Tablet Project, gifting thousands of devices to primary school students across rural Barbados through the support of several generous donors.

However, the onslaught of COVID-19 has seen the Ministry of Education and private sector bodies providing children with the technology, and the Foundation hence wanted to explore other ways to work with young people.   

“I think COVID has made a lot of people realize how important devices are for education, and a lot of private sector people and government have been involved in providing students with tablets…And we're very happy to see that something we started over a decade ago is now being followed”.

“But we've decided as The Truss & Pannell Charitable Foundation that with all these devices in circulation; with so many people now donating devices, we have realized that there's a great need for connectivity for these devices. Because you cannot participate in online school with just a tablet, you actually need internet access,” he indicated.

“And I think that's something that is lacking at the moment. I don't think a lot of institutions and our government have really made that connection, and we felt the need to start here, and bring internet and WIFI to students of this programme. And we're hoping to expand and look at other areas where we can provide Internet. But we also hope that the private sector and government will not take another decade to follow something that we're starting today. We really hope we will see a lot more initiatives like this in the very near future being provided to communities”.

Dr Yearwood commended the Foundation on the WIFI project. He emphasized that “internet poverty” is very real.

“Kids who don't have access cannot go to school,” he stressed.   

“…This has been months and months of planning and we are so proud to be able to launch this project today in the Haynesville community. And we hope that this will be a flagship project and a signal to other persons to get on board to help communities provide access to WIFI for our young people”.