Visually impaired student recieves birthday surprise from Digicel

Digicel’s Caring Connections is a social program which continuously highlights special needs youth and the extraordinary they possess within. Giving assistance to their overall development provides positive chain reactions that spill over to households and communities in St Lucia.Young Shamari Regis from the Leon Hess Secondary School received a birthday surprise from Digicel; a specialized laptop and handset for his birthday.

Shamari Regis is a young intellectual and active first form student who is visually impaired. His welcoming temperament allows all who meet him to fall in love with his personality. He currently attends the Leon Hess Secondary School. As a teenager in a new learning environment, Shamari participates in his classes but his impairment limits him to some activities, one of which includes Information Technology (IT).

Thursday October 24th was a special day for Shamari. He celebrated his birthday and apart from well wishes from his teachers and peers, Shamari received and extraordinary surprise from Digicel on his special day. Before he began his day, Digicel’s Country Manager Mrs. Holly Hughes McNamara, accompanied by the marketing team, presented the excited student with his birthday present.

A Dell laptop outfitted with Zoom Text software has sealed the deal for this eager student for his studies. The software is equipped with a magnifier and reader which allows the content on any page to be magnified greatly enabling the information on screen to be more legible. Shamari also has the advantage of hearing all commands typed into the laptop as the reader provides ease and accuracy when working. A Samsung Galaxy Note 2 was also was also presented to Shamari to complement his extraordinary and exclusive laptop. The Samsung Galaxy Note is equipped with a cadre of features, very user friendly and has the capacity to download a variety of useful and relevant applications that will support Shamari’s special need.“Digicel’s focus on Youth with Special Needs, is a necessary call to action that that empowers the team to be advocates for these extraordinary persons to strive for more and be the best that they can be,” explained Digicel’s Country Manager Mrs. Holly Hughes-McNamara. “Being able to give someone the opportunity to acquire more independence and self-sufficiency is necessary for growth and development” she further added.

Digicel’s Caring Connections has given assistance to many special needs organizations and individuals across St. Lucia. This social project is geared towards the persons with special needs for their spiritual, intellectual, physical, social and emotional development in addition to facilitate their full inclusion into the society.