November 26th 2011
LIME Supports DesignStyle and The Ethan Project

Right now, 13-year-old Ethan Joseph is probably seated at the desk in his recently refurbished and redecorated bedroom, working to maintain his A average. In September, Ethan - a Form 3 student at St Mary’s College - won a French-language spelling competition at his school, the main prize being a paint job for his bedroom. But the 13-year-old winner, who is also a talented musician, got much more than he had bargained for.

He also walked away with a brand new FLIPtop computer - a Wi-Fi enabled laptop with a webcam and 160GB hard drive, - from LIME. The FLIPtop which was introduced to the market two months ago by St Lucia’s full-service telecommunications provider is the company’s latest Internet promotion, offering free installation, free modems and service discounts for just $499 when customers sign up for a new Internet service. The goal of the promotion was to increase the number of households with Internet access by offering a low-cost computer to customers who might not be able to afford a brand name device. “We recognise that access to the Internet is essential in this day and age,” said LIME Managing Director for the Windward Islands, Lawrence McNaughton. “The Internet is a vital tool for research and communication, and should be available to everyone. These are financially challenging times, though, and at LIME, we wanted to make it easier for lower-income families, single-parent families and so on.”

With that background in mind, when LIME St Lucia was approached to touch Ethan’s life through the Designstyle television show, the decision was an easy one to make. Johanna Salton, producer of the popular home makeover show, was handed the task of redecorating and refurbishing Ethan’s bedroom. Ethan lives at Mongiraud with his mother Semantha, a teacher, and 9-year-old brother Tristan, a student at St Aloysius RC Boys School.

Notwithstanding his family’s economic challenges, Ethan has been excelling in school. And as he prepares for school-based assessments and CXC’s, Internet access is vital for the young man. As part of ‘The Ethan Project,’ the Designstyle season finale, Ethan was presented with his very own FLIPTop computer, along with one year free Internet service, compliments of the Caribbean’s leading broadband service provider.

Ethan declared himself thrilled with his new machine, and his mother was equally delighted to hear that she would be getting free Internet service for 12 months. “It’s going to be a huge help to both Ethan and Tristan,” said Semantha. “They are both good students, and as a parent, I am proud and excited to see that my son is gaining recognition. This just goes to show that when you put in the hard work, you will be rewarded.”

Creator and producer of DesignStyle, Johanna Salton said, “This episode was especially dear to us because we got to give back to a family that deserves, especially Ethan who is doing very well at school. I think we can join Ethan in saying “Merci” to LIME and all the other companies who willingly came on board to partner with us and who donated cash and materials in order to make a family more comfortable and evidently very happy.”

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