"We all live under the same sky,

but we don't all have the same horizon."

Briland Modem Fund

An Out Island Community Development Initiative (c) 1999

Harbour Island and Eleuthera, Bahamas

"Sure, the island is busier, and I'm the first one to fuss about the 'tourists and boat people' buying up all the bread and inflating the cost of living.  But then I look around and see that the people of Briland, as a whole, are far better off than they were 20 years ago, the beach and town looks cleaner than ever, there is a wonderful new health clinic, etc. etc. etc.  And as for this website ... you had to live through the hellish uncertainty following Hurricane Andrew to appreciate what 'being connected' meant after Floyd."

-- Posted to Briland.com by "FARCLIFF" on July 18, 2000

In addition to its ongoing community fundraising programs and business development efforts, the Briland Modem Fund supports and manages community technology development throughout the area, thanks to corporate sponsorships and ongoing alliances with the local government councils on Harbour Island and Eleuthera, IBM Nassau, Briland.com, Royal Bank of Canada, Rotary Club East Nassau, Daybreak Eleuthera Shipping, Providence Technology Group, VentureCom, Dell Computers, Microsoft Foundation, area private and government libraries, and the Exceptional Educational Outreach developmental education program.

 

"Our continued thanks go to Senior Commissioner Rufus Johnson and then-local councillor Harvey Roberts for launching the very first centre on Harbour Island, and to Senior Commissioners Alex Williams, Cephas Cooper, Ivan Ferguson, Alex Flowers, John Cox, Speaker of the House J. Oswald Ingraham, Harbour Island chief councillor Eloise Knowles, Hatchet Bay chairman McLain Pinder, and Bluff councillor Rose Hudson for keeping the flame alive."

-- Kimberly King-Burns, executive director

 

SOCIAL CAPITALIZATION

The Fund's community computer centre network islandwide offers ongoing adult and after-school beginning computing, office systems, local area networking, HTML and Internet design classes at its various computer centres throughout local government council districts in Harbour Island and Eleuthera.  [The Harbour Island centre, formerly located at the Sir George S. Roberts Memorial Library, will be reopening soon.]  As corporate and community support and development continues to expand, additional community technology centres will extend throughout the southern Out Islands of the Bahamas.

The Briland Modem is an online island news and information resource by and for Harbour Island and North Eleuthera , Bahamas. The Briland Modem located at www.briland.com is an online community portal for all local businesses, school and library outlets, historical and cultural resources, resorts, aviation and marine resources, fishing charters, travel information, and airline and ferry connection updates, and the message board is a popular online meeting room for Brilanders all over the world.

 
 
 

Community Technology

Centre Rationale

 

 

Computer access and training is critical for success in today's business environment.   The Commonweath of the Bahamas is a stable, developing nation with an economy based on tourism and offshore banking: tourism accounts for 60% of the Gross Domestic Product and employs 40% of the national labor force.   With the rapidly growing conversion of business operations to computer-based infrastructures, it is more critical than ever that computer literacy programs address the growing need of computer education in the Bahamas.

Bluff Community Computer Centre

 

 

The immediate townships of Harbour Island and North and South Eleuthera are rural island communities, located approximately 60 miles from Nassau, the nation's capital.   Local public access to computer education programs did not exist prior to the Community Computer Centre program, forcing those who desired computer training to travel to Nassau or the United States, often at great expense.  

With the implementation of the Community Computer Centre Program, children and adults residing in the rural island communities of Harbour Island and North and South Eleuthera now have access to computer equipment and training without having to relocate to the urban centres.

As an economic development tool, computer training provides professional alternatives to individuals who might otherwise spend a lifetime in a low wage profession, and continues to encourage graduates of the program to pursue a formal computer science education.

Program Goals

and Expected Outcomes

 

 

The goal of the computer literacy program is to provide computer access and training to all local residents of Harbour Island and North and South Eleuthera, Bahamas, with continued outreach throughout the southern Out Islands of the Bahamas.   The community computer centres provide after school computer training classes for community children, and adult computer literacy training.   The initial waiting list for adult education classes on Harbour Island alone originally extended nine months, demonstrating the phenomenal interest in demand for such a program.   Anticipated outcome of the computer literacy program is to provide computer training and access to all community children, and to provide computer training and access to all adults who desire such learning.   Support of local government in such endeavors has been tremendous; founding Commissioner Rufus Johnson has stated that efforts will not cease "until everyone on the island knows how to use a computer!"

Briland Modem Fund

Thank you for your support!

 

MMAKE PAYPAL DONATIONS TO INFO@BRILAND.COM

The Briland Modem Fund

Supports Harbour Island & Eleuthera

Exceptional Education Outreach

[Special education program throughout Eleuthera and Harbour Island]

Lighthouse Church of God

[Harbour Island]

Tarpum Bay Public Library

[Tarpum Bay, Eleuthera]

Carey After School House

[Rock Sound, Eleuthera]

Bluff Community Centre/Library

[Bluff, Eleuthera]

Hatchet Bay After School Centre

[Hatchet Bay, Eleuthera]

The Dunmore School

[Harbour Island]

North Eleuthera After School Centre

[Bluff, Eleuthera]

The Briland Fire Truck

[ongoing promotion and fundraising]

Briland ArtsWalk

Quarterly Local Artists Showcase

The Briland Park

[ongoing promotion and fundraising]

The Island School

[Eleuthera]

Our History

Harbour Island, No. Eleuthera

Wired For Internet Access
Thanks to Public/Private Sector Support,

New Computer Centres Set Sail

 


[Dunmore Town, Harbour Island , Bahamas - Summer 2000]  IBM Nassau launched its first-ever series of industry-accredited training workshops in the Out Islands this week, working in tandem with the Harbour Island Community Computer Centre to train sixty adults and teenagers with basic computer skills.  

Thanks to the dedicated efforts of the not-for-profit Briland Modem Fund, in tandem with Senior Commissioners Rufus Johnson, Alex Williams, and Cephas Cooper; Chief Councillors Harvey Roberts and Eloise Knowles, Community Centre managers Naomi Percentie Fowler, Don Savage, Karen Malcolm and Ann Sawyer, and the local government council on Harbour Island, Bahamas, the brand-new Briland Community Computer Centre located at the public library boasts eight Pentium computers, two Macintosh computers, three Hewlett-Packard printers, an entire set of the Hooked On Phonics software program, and state-of-the-art edutainment, financial support, and word-processing software.

 

Hatchet Bay Community Centre

 

"We're not going to stop developing these community centres until every interested student and adult on Harbour Island and Eleuthera is computer literate," says Senior Commissioner Rufus Johnson.  "It's that important to the future of our islands."

 

 

Benefitting Population

The immediate population of North and South Eleuthera and Harbour Island is approximately 10,500 (Bahamas 1990 census).   Age structure of the population is approximately 30% aged 0-14 years, 64% aged 15-64 years, and 6% aged 65 or older (CIA FactBook 2000).  The total population of the Bahamas is 300,000, with two-thirds of the country population residing in New Providence [Nassau].

 

We Count On You

Program success will be based upon the development of community computer resources throughout Harbour Island, Eleuthera and the southern Out Islands of the Bahamas, which will enable all residents of the rural island communities to gain much needed and desired training and fluency in computer skills, enabling the population of North and South Eleuthera and islands beyond greater access to local professional career opportunities.

The Briland Modem Fund continues to solicit donations from private sources and grant programs to meet the needs of the computer literacy program.   Private donations have already enabled us to open the existing community computer centres, and donations of equipment and supplies from private donors are ongoing.

 

Your Community Effort

The Briland Modem Fund is fully-staffed by volunteers, and 100% of all resources and donations are donated to the Fund.   Subsequently, the Briland Modem Fund does not have an annual operating budget.  

   

The Briland Modem Fund

The Briland Modem Fund relies on corporate and community support of the center endeavour, and all such gifts are acknowledged with a receipt for tax purposes, as the Fund is a U.S.-based 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation.

Briland Modem Fund

Kimberly King-Burns, Executive Director

Board of Directors: Glenroy Aranha, Richard Haskell, Sharon King

Bahamas: Post Office Box 23 - Harbour Island Bahamas

U.S. office: 10153 Riverside Drive, Suite 244 - Los Angeles CA 91602 USA

MAKE PAYPAL DONATIONS TO INFO@BRILAND.COM

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Dunmore Nelson Group