Vitas House, Roots Foundation get Digicel funding

VITAS House Hospice and The Oral Roots Tradition Foundation have received $40,000 and $35,000 respectively in Extraordinary Projects Impacting Communities (EPIC) funding from the Digicel Foundation.

In April, the Digicel Foundation issued a call to all registered community-based organisations, faith-based organisations and other non-profit organisations to apply for funding under the EPIC grant initiative.

The Vitas House Hospice, which cares for terminally-ill cancer patients, used its funding to refurbish a storage room for medical equipment, said a media release.

At the project launch, Dr Asante Van West-Charles-Le Blanc, chairman of the Vitas House Hospice board, thanked the foundation for its continued support and dedication to the institution in spite of the covid19 pandemic.

On September 30 the Oral Tradition Roots Foundation used its funds to launch its online Beyond the Lens project for vulnerable youths in at-risk situations. The project focuses on using media, in particular photography, as a tool to engage with the Enterprise Police Youth Club.

The project is an innovative pedagogical creative talent incubator, combining youth and adult education and oral traditions with digital media, to create advocates for social change.

Founder and CEO Mtima Solwazi said the Roots Foundation is about creating pathways to success through festivals, interventions and media outreach to effect social change. He stressed the importance of positive stimulation for the youth as it is crucial during this time. Lead facilitator, Michael Logie gave an overview of the course that will focus on distinguishing between ISO, aperture and shutter speed, understanding composition and how it affects an image, learning how to apply a unique and keen eye to landscape photography and how to perfect mobile photography.

The virtual sessions will be held every Wednesday and Friday targeting 12 youth from the Enterprise Police Youth Club. Beyond the Lens is a collaboration between the Oral Roots Tradition Foundation, Horizon Media TT, police youth clubs and the Digicel Foundation.

Digicel Foundation’s EPIC small grants initiative is in its fifth year. Twenty-five new grants will be issued to new community partners by March 2021.