Check out our demo to see what’s in store with Jamoji VR!

On another note, we want to provide a quick update on the Bridgeport Primary School playground project. While we initially raised the necessary funds, unforeseen costs have caused a delay. We’re working diligently to address these challenges and remain committed to breaking ground in May 2025. We appreciate your patience and continued support.

Thank you for being part of our journey. Stay tuned for more updates!

Warmly,  
Colleen

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It brings me great joy to not only share this experience with you all, but it is a true honor to give back and celebrate with the Jamaican community. 

I know I’ve always wanted to give back to Jamaica, but I wasn’t always sure how. In writing Jamoji—Essays of Life and Play in Jamaica, reliving my childhood memories and exploring working partnerships opened the opportunity that I would give back to the very core of Jamoji, preserving childhood and innocence. After one playground is successfully built, we can build another and another, but we have to get the first one right, first. (The Jamaican Ministry of Education is onboard to facilitate the needs of the playground installation.)

To kick things off, we’ll be taking over the gardens of Pegasus hotel on Dec. 17th with fun activities and a silent auction. (Great prizes to come!) The event tickets for the Jamoji launch party and fundraiser are available via eventbrite. I would love to have you join us on Saturday, Dec. 17th at Pegasus Hotel, in Kingston Jamaica.

If you have any questions or would be interested in supporting #JamojiPLAY, I am all ears!

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Date: Saturday, December 17, 2022
Place: Pegasus Hotel (Kingston, Jamaica)
Time: 4PM -9PM
Dress: Garden Cocktail
Serving: Island style hors d’euvres & open bar

I shared in the book cover dedication that a part of Jamoji book proceeds will go to the school my sisters and I attended while living in Jamaica, Bridgeport Primary in St. Catherine. Specifically, building a playground for the school. In addition, I will be hosting a fundraiser for this book launch (incld. book signing) on Dec 17, 2022 at Pegasus Hotel Jamaica to further meet this effort. 

And if you can’t make it to Jamaica, you won’t miss out on the fun because we have an online silent auction filled with great prizes that includes Apple iPad, Spa for 2 at Halfmoon Resort and more! 

The option to donate directly to building the playground is open here. 

You won’t want to miss out when tickets go on sale in the coming weeks. A LIMITED number of early-bird discount tickets will be available…Get them before they go!

Lastly, if you haven’t already, please remember to pick up, share, invite, and leave a review for Jamoji. (For signed copies go here.) It is your continued support that helps us grow.

See you there!

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A “helpa,” is the housekeeper, live-in or day’s worker, it’s all the same, someone who helps with the household chores. Having a helpa in Jamaica is pretty common, as I mentioned we love to clean and there was a time when most household appliances weren’t automated, making the need for help even more vital to maintaining a tidy home. Thus, the presence of a helpa is more of a necessity than a luxury. This week I invited a cleaning crew to clean up after a long overdue kitchen renovation and the experience put me in a tailspin of childhood memories of Maureen. 

Maureen was the most memorable of our helpas over the years. There are many traumatic stories about heplas, but the most common across the board is their love of bleach. The misuse and overuse of the household product led to the ruins of many linens and/or favorite garments, all in the name of achieving the brightest whites. Maureen would arrive on Monday mornings and we made certain of properly hiding the bleach on Sundays. This too is common practice, to this day, before the helpa arrives you know it’s best to hide the bleach. We even got to the point of not buying bleach altogether out of fear of giving in to Maureen’s cries. After she grew tired of requesting the product upon arrival, she eventually bought and/or brought her own. We hired Sandra after Maureen and the battle of the bleach continued. My sisters and I were destined to prematurely retire clothing due to accidental bleach spots. There is no winning this battle with your helpa. You see, bleach and helpas go hand in hand, not to be separated. 

Within minutes after the cleaning crew entered my home this week, my nerves went into overdrive – Oh sweet baby Jesus, I smell bleach. Which for me is quite assaulting, in uniform to following a whole plant-based diet, I also refrain from using harsh chemicals as much as possible. I understood that the services added much needed help, but it was an instant headache not only to the scent, but its memory represented ruins and a call to protect my belongings. The rollercoaster of events found me unprepared and exhausted. Feeling defeated, I accepted it and simply left the apartment. I called on friends and family for help and to my disregard for bleach, came my childhood friend’s response, “Really, so how do you clean your whites?” My heart be still…it’s still 2020, right? Well, yes 2020 is the year for bleach for other reasons, but my whites are just fine! 

I guess Maureen and helpas get a bad rap for reasons we’re all guilty of, control and pride – symptoms of our perfectionism. My apartment came out just fine and as for me, I’m doing better, I am in search of an eco-friendly helpa because some trains and training cannot be stopped.

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It was the first week of April 2016 and I was at a rehearsal dinner. With a background in Economics, I naturally found myself chatting with an SVP Investment Bank professional. We discussed the idea of me getting back into banking, but then, I boldly shared this idea that I’d been toying around with for about all of two weeks. I shared with her the concept of Jamoji and how the idea came about (see bio) and then she asked me, “What’s so different about Jamaican fruits?!” I was shocked. Here was a woman who was well traveled, educated and an executive of a top investment firm asking what/how/why would my experiences and tropical being be any different from what the new world had to offer. I honestly didn’t have the words for her so I did what I knew best, I Googled an image of the Jamaican Apple. When her bright eyes lit up with true fascination and awe, it was at that very moment I knew what I had to do and that it was good. I wanted to recreate that wonder and unearth that delight over and over again. 

The Jamaican Apple, like many of the Island’s fruits, is only available in season —  summer. It is crisp, light, refreshing and sweet, but sometimes tart and at times dry. It’s best enjoyed chilled on a hot summer day. Before North American apple varieties were widely available in Jamaican supermarkets, the only chance we had to taste or even see a “red delicious” was when my mom once smuggled the fruit in on an overseas stay. We had no access to apples of that kind, except for rare sightings, in the 90’s, once we had access to cable TV. Sidenote: a smuggled apple was top shelf commodity, low crime and high reward even if you didn’t like it (which I didn’t, I later learned that I’m a fuji apple variety kind). However, no North American apple variety came close to the pleasure and joyous satisfaction that a Jamaican Apple brought, maybe it’s decadence of not having it available year round. Having said all that, I will take note then and make a fuss, as anniversaries only come once a year! 

Happy Birthday Jamoji!

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