Of the several Caribbean islands I’ve visited, Jamaica looms large as my favorite.
Its people, food, culture, sandy beaches and craggy cliffs make it a magnetic destination that never fails to inspire me – and chill me out. But as much as I love being the recipient of these feel-good vibes, on my last two visits to Jamaica, I was thrilled to discover ways that I could give back to local communities, too.
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Late last year, I spent three days and nights at the Jamaica Inn, a historic hotel in Ocho Rios. Like most visitors to this part of Jamaica’s north coast, during my trip I savored time in the ocean, and gobbled up the views from various vantage points, including from the breakfast patio and the outdoor living room of my beach suite.
Yet easy as it was to fall into this rhythm, Jamaica Inn offers daily activities to round out your experience, including excursions to witness the work of the Jamaica Inn Foundation, which supports marine life and local youth via relationships with a local elementary school and other charitable organizations, including the White River Fish Sanctuary.
Planning tip: if the times and fares work for you, fly into the relatively new Ian Fleming International Airport in Boscobel, a mere 16-minute drive to the hotel; otherwise, it’s two hours from Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay.
Supply demand
Ahead of our visit, the hotel let our group know about its “Pack with a Purpose” initiative, which invites guests to bring donations for the local Fern Grove Basic School. The items needed most are school supplies, so we all packed stickers and notebooks and crayons and coloring books in our luggage; one intrepid traveler even brought a soccer ball.
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On our second day at the hotel, a Jamaica Inn staff member gathered all the donated supplies, and we set off to meet the students and teachers at Fern Grove. There, we learned that in addition to the regular donations of supplies, the Jamaica Inn Foundation had assisted with much-needed building and equipment upgrades at the school. We poked our heads into classrooms decorated with brightly colored charts and student work and waved to students in between lessons, before leaving them to enjoy the rest of their school day.
Turtle time
Later, we drove to Oracabessa, where the Oracabessa Bay Turtle Project team was overseeing a hatching of one of the recent hawksbill sea-turtle nests. In addition to protecting the nests from predators and poachers, the organization helps the vulnerable baby turtles reach the ocean safely after they emerge. Watching dozens of tiny turtles totter down the sand and into the waves was a surprisingly moving experience.
Hatchings also take place on the beach at Jamaica Inn: the season is generally from July to November, and guests can check the hotel’s calendar if they want to schedule a visit to see it for themselves. Based on everyone’s awestruck expressions, the 22-minute drive to witness this marvel of nature is more than worth it.
Another golden opportunity
On a previous trip to Jamaica, I had tagged along with my friend (and Lonely Planet editor) Brekke Fletcher to Rockhouse Hotel in Negril, on the island’s west coast. Many visitors come to Negril to snorkel and dive Long Bay, and kick back on the sands of Seven Mile Beach. While we did some of the latter, our trip was more about soaking up the luxurious amenities of Rockhouse Hotel, perched on the cliffs above Pristine Cove. Rooms here are nestled in tropical gardens, with outdoor showers and private decks overlooking the ridiculously picturesque turquoise waters of Jamaica’s West End.
When we did venture off-property, we took advantage of the hotel’s weekly excursion into neighboring communities, which included a visit to Sav Inclusive School, purpose-built by the Rockhouse Foundation. The organization is chaired by Rockhouse Hotel owner Paul Salmon; since it was established 20 years ago, it has raised over US$10 million to upgrade, expand and modernize seven schools as well as the Negril Public Library.
All-inclusive goodness
A 35-minute drive from the hotel, Sav Inclusive in Savanna-La-Mar is a mixed-ability, full-inclusion model school. As Rockhouse Foundation’s president Peter Rose (and the chaperone for our visit) explained, this means that “children who are typical learners and children with special needs learn side by side in the same classroom.” The school is the first of its kind in Jamaica, where “many children with special needs are stigmatized and marginalized,” says Rose.
At Sav Inclusive, professional staff trained to work with children with developmental delays and physical disabilities help these youngsters study alongside their peers. As for the stigma in the local community, Peter told us that it was “the children who led the way”: the young students naturally befriended their classmates and identified ways they could help them without being prompted. After opening in 2017 with 30 3-year-olds, Sav Inclusive now has a full enrollment of students aged 3 to 5, and an expansion into the primary and secondary years is underway.
Visiting students, meeting alumni
During our tour with other guests from Rockhouse and sister property Skylark Negril Beach Resort, sudden bursts of joy punctuated our stroll, as we came face to face with students in the classrooms. Perhaps it was the novelty of visitors or the chance to break away from lessons for a moment, but the kids were thrilled to greet us – and to reunite with familiar faces from the Rockhouse Foundation. Joining us on the tour was Ricardo Flemming, who had grown up in the area and now worked on the foundation’s board and at Skylark’s boutique. Another Skylark manager was a fifth grader in the foundation’s very first project years ago. “There’s a poetry to that,” Peter Rose said with a smile – before jumping behind the wheel to drive us to yet another local school the foundation supports.
While anyone can support the Jamaica Inn Foundation and Rockhouse Foundation via donations, there’s something truly rewarding about taking it a step further and bringing school supplies with you on your trip, or visiting the schools these foundations support to see first-hand how your donations make a difference. In addition to those endless photos of the crystalline Caribbean Sea on your camera roll, you’ll leave with images of huge smiles on the faces of the students you meet.
And these memories will linger long after you fly home.
