$1m lift for UWI students

WESTERN BUREAU:

The upcoming September school term has been made easier for several students of The University of the West Indies (UWI) in western Jamaica, who recently received scholarships valued at a combined $1 million through the generosity of Nordia Barrett-Lewis, founder of Atlanta, Georgia-based Barrett Immigration.

The scholarships were presented to four UWI students during their orientation session at the university’s western Jamaica campus on August 25. The students were selected based on an assessment of their financial needs.

Daniel Brown, one of the four recipients and a second-year accounting student from Lilliput in the parish, expressed gratitude for the scholarship, which he received based on his leadership skills and academic performance.

“My lecturer reached out to me in May, and she told me that I was being given this opportunity because of how I had helped other students previously, and because how I had also performed well academically. I was elated, because I had thought that I would have had to borrow loans, and it was a great moment after all the years of hard work that I put in,” said Brown.

Fellow recipient Amelia Williams, a third-year management studies major from the Paradise, Norwood community, told The Gleaner that receiving her scholarship helped to ease the uncertainty she had been feeling about how she would continue her education.

“Honestly, I am very appreciative because I really did not know where the funding was going to come from for this semester,” Williams admitted. “This assistance has helped me tremendously, and not just financially, but also mentally, because it feels like a burden has been lifted off my shoulders, and when I was told that I was going to get the help, I cried.”

This year’s presentation of scholarships marks the second time that Barrett-Lewis, a member of the Jamaican diaspora in the United States, has assisted students in her home country, following a similar endeavour in 2024.

Barrett-Lewis, who started Barrett Immigration in 2022 and plans to return to Jamaica later this month to donate an ultrasound machine to the UWI campus, told The Gleaner that she provides assistance to selected students through outreach on social media.

“Outside of those students at UWI Mona’s School of Business, there were also some Primary Exit Profile students that I have also assisted, who moved on to schools such as Munro College and Black River High School in St Elizabeth. Some of them were selected from persons that have been on my TikTok page,” said Barrett-Lewis.

“What I have noticed is that when I start to share on my platform and people see the information available there, they rush to follow me and ask if they can get help. I am just always giving back to Jamaica, although I have migrated and now live outside of Jamaica, and I give back via scholarships,” Barrett-Lewis added.

christopher.thomas@gleanerjm.com