PRINCIPAL of Carthagena Basic School in Montego Bay, Pansy Hall-Manning, will have a lot to relate to her young students as she was selected yesterday as the lucky Digicel customer to win an all-expense paid trip for two to South Africa as a part of Digicel FIFA Make the Team promotion.

A very excited Hall-Manning was unable to contain the emotion that she felt after receiving the ceremonial voucher from Digicel Jamaica CEO Mark Linehan during the presentation at Digicel’s head office. Mrs Hall-Manning’s trip includes accommodation, airfare, ground transportation, meals, a Safari tour, US$300 spending money each plus tickets to see the World Cup Finals.

“I simply can’t believe it,” the soft-spoken Mobay area resident sighed. “When they first called me, I didn’t follow it up much and now to be here and holding this, it’s almost too much.”

While not an avid sports fan, Mrs Hall-Manning, whose previous travels have included several Caribbean destinations, is anxious to spread her wings and take in the much-talked about features of South Africa.

For his part, Linehan, amid some light conversation, told the winner to “enjoy the trip to the fullest”, adding that Digicel was proud to be able to give Jamaicans the chance to see the world’s greatest sporting spectacle. Some three million persons are expected to stream into the African republic to watch the games, with billions more viewing around the world.

Five other persons each received $100,000 cash and a new Blackberry 9700 phone from Digicel as consolation prizes as part of the promotion. They are Pamela Morgan, Basil Daley, Nigel Wishart, Ernie Smith and Analia Miller — a 17-year-old winner who was represented by her mother Ms Ann-Marie Miller.

Rohan Lindsay, the sixth consolation prize winner of $100,000 cash and a BlackBerry Bold 9700 was unable to make it to the Digicel office to collect his prize.

Prize trip winner Hall-Manning, who sadly lost her husband only two months prior, will now enjoy this getaway with her son Dakarai, himself an avid football fan. “I’m supporting France to win,” he said. “I’m excited to get to see my favourite players like Thierry Henry, Patrice Evra and Franck Ribery”. This will be Dakarai’s first trip overseas and he plans to make the most of it. “I also want to experience the wildlife, all the animals,” he closed.