Ignite IGL Foundation awards $1.6m in scholarships to future frontline workers
Published:Tuesday | December 14, 2021 | 12:05 AMAinsworth Morris/Staff Reporter
Two aspiring medical doctors and three nurses were awarded scholarships totalling $1.6 million for the 2021-22 academic year by the Ignite IGL Foundation Scholarships on Thursday.
The student doctors will each receive $650,000 per year for five years, while the student nurses will each receive $100,000 per year for two years. They are all students at The University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona.
The recipients are Brianna Foster, Jeremiah Baker, Sheryllee Smith, Samantha Mosha and Britney Hay.
Foster and Baker, both aspiring doctors, were awarded with the Razai Azard Rahaman Scholarships for Medicine, while Smith, Mosha and Hay were awarded with the IGL Legacy Scholarship for Nursing.
Traditionally, the Ignite IGL Foundation would award two aspiring nurses, but given the overwhelming stories of the three shortlisted students, they made an exception this year and chose all three candidates.
Bevon Francis, chairman, IGL, said the foundation continues to support the students during the pandemic and bumped up the awards by adding another scholar this year, because they want to assist with the needs of these students who are soon-to-be frontline workers.
“The Ignite IGL Scholarships have enabled them to focus on their studies without having to worry about finding money to pay for it. This has allowed them to achieve academic success, while ensuring that the most deserving students have a chance to learn,” Francis said.
He added: “We are thankful that in response to the needs of our communities with the COVID-19 pandemic, IGL is able, as a company, to invest considerable resources in obtaining systems across the island to increase capacity for medical oxygen, yet still fund the five scholarships being presented, along with those already awarded in previous years.”
Francis said he is proud that many of the previous scholars have been on the front line during the fight against COVID-19.
Speaking on behalf of the five recipients, Mosha, a junior resident in the paediatric medicine programme at The UWI, Mona, said the donation will help them with their calling in life.
“IGL has done so much to invest not only in individuals, but in the Jamaican society on a whole. Jamaica is a better country because of your selfless commitment to social development,” Mosha said.
“The Ignite Foundation also provided an outlet for my love for social outreach. So my career, my calling in life, is medical missions, and IGL provided the perfect way to manage those two things together ... and I’ll forever be grateful for those opportunities,” she further stated.