Participants in this year’s GraceKennedy Jamaican Birthright Programme spoke highly of technology’s importance in advancing Jamaica’s development during a recent courtesy call to Flow’s Vice President and General Manager, Stephen Price.

Flow is a sponsor of the GraceKennedy Jamaican Birthright Programme, which is an internship offered to qualified applicants of Jamaican lineage and includes educational, professional and cultural development. This year’s participants are four university students from Canada, the USA and the United Kingdom, and each received a smartphone as well as a SIM card and data plan to meet their connectivity needs while in Jamaica.

During their visit to Flow’s corporate office on July 4, the participants learnt more about the company and Flow’s mission to connect communities and change lives.

Samaya Miller, a recent graduate of the University of British Columbia in Canada, pointed out that she was excited about the possibilities digital technology provides for education.

“I’m excited to see how we can use technology to support education and help to bring people out of poverty. During COVID a lot of children didn’t have access to their education which is important for their development, so I’m really interested in seeing how we use technology to connect people through education and lift them out of poverty,” said Miller.

Ras.I Martin, who attends the prestigious University of Oxford in England, noted that one of the sectors he’s most excited about for Jamaica’s future is financial technology.

“A large portion of the population doesn’t have a bank and Jamaica mainly has a cash society. What I’ve seen in a lot of other developing countries is the use of mobile phone for banking using SMS and what this allows for is the need to not have cash to do financial transactions, which helps to mitigate against theft and crime, and you’d be free from that fear,” Martin said.

Meanwhile, Price encouraged the students to continue excelling academically and advised them of ways they can impact nation building even while in the Diaspora.

“I encourage you to continue focussing on your education but also look at where and how you would like to help the country. Reach out to organizations who do work similar to what you want to do and partner or learn from these companies and carve out your own niche,” said Price.

“Jamaica’s best assets are its people and collectively we all have a role to play in creating the society we want for ourselves and our children.”

While in Jamaica, the GraceKennedy Jamaican Birthright participants will intern at one of the GraceKennedy companies and will be culturally exposed to Jamaican landmarks and lifestyle. The participants said they were grateful to Flow for providing their communication needs which will enhance their overall internship experience.

“I’ve been to Jamaica a lot and I’ve never been able to connect directly with my family back home so now having the phone and SIM card I get to connect with my family and capture all the things we are doing and I’m super excited to be connected through Flow,” Miller added.