Quickstep picks up pace with Wi-Fi access point
Published:Friday | April 14, 2023 | 12:47 AMAndre Williams/Staff Reporter
After almost a decade of working to modernise the deep rural township of Quickstep in St Elizabeth with Internet connectivity, residents can now breathe a sigh of relief.
Complete access was initiated last week by the Universal Service Fund (USF), and for Randy Griffiths, founder of international charity Pencils4Kids and a son of the soil, the initiative aligns with millions of dollars invested in the community to improve life for the residents.
Griffiths told The Gleaner that the free Wi-Fi access is a dream come true.
“Giving the kids access to additional educational resources was just the beginning. As our fundraising and volunteer efforts grew to impact the community, offering safety, health and sustainability solutions, we knew the Internet would offer a gateway to so much more,” he said.
The philanthropist added that there were countless meetings to get the hotspot installed and thanked the authorities and the USF.
“Now, not only are the kids connected to a world full of possibilities, but also over 120 households from neighbouring towns will benefit from free Wi-Fi,” Griffiths told The Gleaner.
The USF project, dubbed ‘Bridging The Information Gap’, is designed to provide free Wi-Fi Internet access to 189 communities across Jamaica.
During his address at the launch, Delroy Slowley, member of parliament for St Elizabeth North Eastern, said that Quickstep stood tall in his mind when he had dialogue with the USF.
“Why was Quickstep in my head like that? It started some time ago when Mr Randy Griffiths sat in my office. I was not an MP then, but he heard about the action man, and he thought I could really make the difference, and we sat and we spoke. I really wanted to help because I heard about the man (Griffiths) and the great work that he has been doing up by Quickstep, and I wanted to really help him to achieve [more] by getting Internet access,” Slowley said to thunderous applause.
Quickstep Primary School Principal Alicia Black was also in a celebratory move, noting that the initiative would help her students and the wider community.
The USF community Wi-Fi programme is consistent with the thrust to enable a knowledge-based society through universal access to the Internet and digital inclusion.
The Quickstep Community Library, sponsored by Pencils4Kids in 2019, found a new lease on life with the free Internet service as computers and tablets that have been long outfitted there can log on to the World Wide Web.