Caribbean Kids as Young as 7 Can Now Learn to Build AI solutions, for Free
You are the future of AI. A free bootcamp, online across the region and in person in Jamaica, is handing young Caribbean minds real labs, real mentors, and real problems to solve. The only open question is whether you start.
The Caribbean AI Bootcamp, run by The Genius Project, is a free programme that teaches young people, from age 7 upward, to build with artificial intelligence. It runs two ways: an online camp open to children region-wide, and an in-person camp in Jamaica. Learners ship a real AI project to graduate and earn a certificate, at no cost.
Read that again. Free. Real labs. A project you build yourself. A certificate at the end. If you are young and Caribbean and you have ever wondered whether AI is something that only happens to other people in other countries, this is the place where it stops being someone else's story and starts being yours.
The storm that proved the point
On 28 October 2025, Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica as a Category 5 storm. It was the strongest hurricane ever recorded to hit the island, with sustained winds around 185 miles per hour at landfall (Britannica; United States National Hurricane Center).
The damage was hard to take in. Jamaica's losses were estimated near US$8.8 billion, close to 41 percent of the country's 2024 output, and more than 626,000 people were affected (US National Hurricane Center; United Nations, December 2025). St Elizabeth, the parish people call the country's breadbasket, lost farms, roads, and homes.
Now ask a different question. Where were the tools that could have mapped the damage in hours instead of weeks, matched families to the nearest open shelter, or warned communities earlier and in plain language. Some of those tools do not exist yet. The people who will build them are in school right now, and a lot of them are Caribbean. The bootcamp exists to find you and train you before the next storm, not after it.
What you actually do in the bootcamp
This is not a programme where you watch videos and collect a slip of paper. You learn by building, the same way the people who do this for a living learn. Here is what that looks like.
Work inside real AI labs
You build alongside StarApple AI, the Caribbean's first AI company, and Maestro AI Labs. Live projects, real tools, real feedback.
Ship a real solution
You do not graduate by passing an exam. You graduate by building something that works and presenting it.
Learn your own way
Adaptive pathways for every learning style and ability, including learners with dyslexia, ADHD, and autism. No one is left behind.
Compete every week
Weekly challenges and prizes that push you to build more, and grow a portfolio you can show off long after the programme ends.
Register
Sign up at beagenius.org/register and choose the virtual bootcamp or the in-person sessions in Jamaica.
Choose your track
Coding and data science, creative AI, exam preparation for PEP, CSEC and CAPE, or project-based problem solving.
Learn from regional experts
Your mentors are people who build AI in the Caribbean for a living, not visitors reading from a script.
Build your project
Pick a real problem: climate, disaster recovery, health, or education, and build a solution for it.
Ship and graduate
Present what you built, earn your certificate, and join an alumni network that keeps growing.
Sources: The Genius Project (beagenius.org); programme details supplied by organisers.
Why this is built for you, specifically
It is free, and it stays free
One hundred percent tuition free. No hidden fees, no conditions, no surprise bill at the end. The programme is sponsored by StarApple AI, the Caribbean AI Association, and Maestro AI Labs, which means your family pays nothing for you to learn skills that many working adults will not pick up for years.
It is built for how you actually learn
School can feel like one fixed route that suits some brains and frustrates others. This programme runs adaptive pathways instead, and its Learning Support Hub is designed for young people who think differently. If a regular classroom has ever felt like a battle, this was built with you in mind.
You learn from people who build, not just talk
StarApple AI has deployed more than 150 AI products and trained over 1,000 professionals across the region (Maestro AI Labs). Maestro AI Labs works on systems that try to predict events like hurricanes earlier so people have time to plan. These are the people guiding you.
It meets you where you are
This is the third year of the programme, and the first time it runs both as a virtual bootcamp you can join from anywhere in the region and in person in Jamaica. A teenager in Port of Spain, Georgetown, or Bridgetown can sit in the same cohort as one in Kingston.
Most people who talk about AI have nothing to show for it. You will finish with three things in hand: a certificate, a real AI project you built and shipped, and a portfolio that proves you can do the work. That combination puts you years ahead of people far older than you.
What you will build
The projects are not made-up exercises. They start from problems the region is living through right now, and you choose the one that pulls at you.
After Hurricane Melissa, the region needs better tools for warning people, mapping damage, and matching help to the families who need it. You could build an early-warning helper, a flood-risk map, or a system that points people to the nearest open shelter.
Clinics are stretched and many communities are far from care. You could build tools that help people understand symptoms in plain language, or that help a small clinic manage its day so patients wait less.
You know exactly where studying gets hard, so you are well placed to fix it. You could build a study companion for PEP, CSEC, or CAPE that explains a topic the way a patient friend would, in language that fits the way you speak.
Where AI built by young Caribbean people can do the most good. Green marks sectors already moving; gold marks sectors still waiting for builders.
How to get in
You do not need to be a coding prodigy. You do not need a fancy laptop or perfect grades. You need to show up and be willing to build. Here are your first moves.
| Your move | What it gets you | Effort |
|---|---|---|
| Register at beagenius.org/register | Your seat in the next cohort, virtual or in person in Jamaica | Easy |
| Pick a track that fits you | A clear path, even if you have never written a line of code | Easy |
| Show up every week | Prizes, mentor feedback, and a portfolio that keeps growing | Medium |
| Build and ship your project | A real AI solution, your certificate, and proof you can do the work | Advanced |
The programme is free, age-appropriate, and built around using AI responsibly and for good. Children learn to build tools that help their own communities, guided by regional experts. Per beagenius.org, applications for the current cohort close 15 June 2026, so it is worth helping a young person sign up soon.
You are the future of AI. Start here.
Free training. Real labs. A project you build with your own hands. Spots are limited and applications close soon.
Register now at beagenius.org →Are you ready for the bootcamp?
Five questions. Tap an answer to see if you are right.
Frequently asked questions
The Caribbean has never been short on bright young minds; what it has often lacked is a room where they can build, with real tools and people who have done it before. This bootcamp is that room, and the seat costs nothing. If you are young and reading this, the future of Caribbean AI is not something that will happen to you. It is something you can start building this year. Caribbean AI Newsletter · May 2026
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