By Al Edawrds, Financial Editor 
Facey
CABLE & WIRELESS Foundation, the brainchild of the company's senior vice-president for Legal, Regulatory & Public Policy, Camille Facey and former President Gary Barrow, was launched in November of last year.
The initial endowment was $20 million but that sum is supplemented by additional funding
The integrated telecoms company has been a consistent donor to major civic and social projects in Jamaica but with the foundation, the thinking was to more effectively utilise and position, the brand more specifically in the field of education.
" We looked at the areas where we make contributions to Jamaica and we make a significant one to sport, in particular cricket. We thought that education is the future of the country and decided to pay attention to that area. The foundation placed importance on the education of IT. Now there are those that might say with all the issues facing us in Jamaica where does ICT come in? In large measure we see this as the future. Once you are literate both basic and computer all sorts of avenues are open to you. If our people do not possess computer skills they will be illiterate for life in the 21st century, Mrs. Facey told the Financial Gleaner.
CYBER CLUBS
The company is committed to becoming an even better corporate citizen. It is aware that many boys are not performing well at school and are underachieving. The foundation will be launching a number of cyber clubs with one being established at the Scouts Association which has a thousand boys going through it annually. It teamed up with the Scouts Association and has donated 10 computers to that organisation.
" We are concerned about the role models for our boys so the Foundation has initiated an employee volunteer programme whereby employees can go and work with young people. The
aspirational side is very important for our young men-not that we are leaving out the girls mind you, " says Mrs. Facey.
DEGREES THROUGH INTERNET
She stressed the importance of IT in modern Jamaica pointing to the fact that you can pay all your bills online, book holidays from your computer and apply for visas online. Staff from many companies in Jamaica are pursuing Master's degrees through the Internet. She added that young people would be disadvantaged if they are unable to take up the opportunities presented by the IT sector.
"We need to teach our youngsters how to operate on the information highway. The advantage of being associated with the Cable & Wireless Foundation is that we have programmes all over the world. For example in March of next year we will be hosting the International Childnet Academy. We have already sent kids who have build web sites to our head office in London. You can't just open up the Internet and tell children, go forth. You have to teach them how to be safe on the Internet and make use of it for the right reasons.
"We chose education particularly because we saw the critical need for private sector imput in that area because we have to draw on employees from the workforce. We believe that we are indeed our brother's keeper.
The Cable & Wireless Foundation now provides Internet access to 331 schools in Jamaica. Any primary school body that applies for it is granted Internet access. The commitment to provide Internet access to schools is for three years. C&W believes that if it can make this kind of tangible contribution in an area of great need to national development it not only serves the needs of Cable & Wireless it also serves the needs of the communities. Mrs. Facey was the driving force behind having a mobile library fitted out with ADSL and GPRS capabilities.
One of the biggest successes of the Foundation is that it has been able to partner with other entities that do not have sufficient funds and get projects off the ground. One such project is the Registrar of Volunteers and the development of its web site another is the partnership with the Jamaica Library Services. The C&W Foundation is now providing ADSL to a number of parish libraries.
Over the summer the Foundation had over 40 school kids at its headquarters developing websites. As Christmas approaches the Foundation will be establishing more cyber clubs.
So what challenges lie ahead for next year? The plan is to establish even more cyber clubs in 2005 and continue the support for education particularly as far as IT is concerned. Emphasis will be placed on providing training for the teachers so that the computers provided can be effectively utilised by the youngsters.
" Philantrophy is a part of how we operate at Cable & Wireless and we want it to be embedded even more so next year, said Mrs. Facey.
