On December 7th 2001, Mustard Seed Communities in association with VISION Consulting opened the first Internet Cafe to serve the residents of the inner city communities of Kingston, Jamaica.

The following July, Zinc Link II was opened at North Street, Kingston by the Jamaican Minister for Commerce and Technology, Phillip Paulwell.

Following the success of these two facilities it was decided that an Internet café should be opened at each Mustard Seed location to serve both Mustard Seed staff and children and local inner city residents. There are presently four (4) Zinc Links in operation whilst a fifth is currently under construction at Widow's Mite in Murray Mount, St. Ann.

The Zinc Link project represents a partnership between VISION Consulting and Mustard Seed Communities that seeks to bring the power of the internet to the embattled and devastated inner city communities of Kingston, Jamaica.

Each Zinc Link is operated as a small business and is staffed by local inner city residents who are trained on the job. Services provided include CD based training courses, high speed (ADSL) internet access, printing, scanning and sale of floppy disks and CD disks.

Charges to customers are kept as low as possible - children are charged approx U$1.50 per hour and working adults U$2. Any surplus income generated is used to finance MSC's caring activities. The vast majority of customers are children in the 8 to 15 age range. The children have never used a computer before coming to the Zinc Link and generally start off by using the educational software before progressing to using the internet. All children are provided with a Hotmail address and are shown how to use e-mail.

To learn more about the Zinc Link, please visit its dedicated website here.