Cruise passengers dock fun for charity
Tourists join Helping Hands, Food For The Poor to spruce up Boscobel Primary & Infant School
Published:Friday | April 19, 2024 | 12:10 AMAinsworth Morris/Staff Reporter
WHEN THE Norwegian Pearl docked in Ocho Rios, St Ann, on Monday, 32 people among the hundreds of tourists who were part of the Love and Harmony Cruise opted to do charity work at the nearby Boscobel Primary & Infant School instead of having a day of enjoyment in the town.
The tourists, along with local volunteers from the Helping Hands Jamaica Foundation and Food For The Poor Jamaica, repainted the school’s infant department that was constructed by the two local charities in 2017.
Organisers of the school project viewed the support provided by the visitors as refreshing and hope other tourists will also think about doing good to transform the lives of residents while vacationing in the tropical paradise, where many have come to enjoy the food, music, dance, and culture.
Ronnie Tomlinson, Ddirector of public relations, Love and Harmony Cruise, told The Gleaner at the St Mary-based school that for next year, her team hopes to roll in more persons than the 32 volunteers who went for the inaugural charity activity, especially since the organisers plan to double the number of passengers sailing in order to accommodate the actual demand.
“We’re in our sixth annual Love and Harmony Cruise, but we’ve been seeking some sort of partnership given that we come to the island each year, and the work that Helping Hands Jamaica Foundation has been doing on the ground is tremendous, and that definitely played a part in our selection and decision to partner,” Tomlinson told The Gleaner.
“Another thing that was important is the fact that it was infants. From both organisers and for the Love and Harmony Cruise, the key was to help infants and the elderly,” she said.
Tomlinson said that since the announcement on board the ship about this initiative, persons have expressed an interest to contribute, even if not in person, but in cash and kind.
“You don’t have to sail with us to be a part of it. On loveandharmoneycruise.com we have a tab that’s called Love and Harmony Give Back, and you can definitely click that tab and be a part of the initiative,” she said.
The funds raised for the From Love Springs Harmony programme will address some of the challenges of underserved communities in St Mary by providing crucial food assistance to the elderly and supporting the nutritional needs of students at the Boscobel Primary & Infant School by offering breakfast and lunch for approximately 200 students until the end of this school year.
For Marsha Burrell Rose, marketing and development manager, Food For The Poor Jamaica, this concept by Helping Hands Foundation and Love and Harmony Cruise fits well with the charity’s Build Back The Love for Jamaica campaign.
“We want persons to know that when you visit Jamaica, [through the Build Back The Love For Jamaica campaign], we have so many different projects that you can come and be a part of, so while you’re on your vacation, you can give back and do something for Jamaica, knowing that when they leave here, it’s not only about the beauty and the enjoyment, but knowing that you have given back to Jamaica,” Burrell Rose told The Gleaner.
“This is what we want to do. We want persons to return to their roots, reinvest, reconnect, and just rejuvenate with us here in Jamaica,” she said.
The Love and Harmony Cruise was developed for persons to enjoy the Caribbean culture, food, Jamaica’s ‘80s and ‘90s music and sporting activities which take place on the Norwegian Pearl ship. This inaugural charity is dubbed ‘From Love Springs Harmony’.
A mature, global audience
The Norwegian Pearl started sailing on April 13 to explore the waters of the Caribbean Sea for the 2024 iteration of the Love and Harmony Cruise. The musical experience upon the sea is booked out a year in advance and will have on board over 2,300 fans of reggae, dancehall, and soca.
The clientèle is a mature, global audience and lovers of Caribbean culture, so each year, the organisers select artistes with an extensive catalogue who will get their patrons, who they affectionately call ‘harmonisers’, with a stellar line of Buju Banton, Tarrus Riley, Alison Hinds, Ghost, Christopher Martin, and Beres Hammond.
Robert Montague, member of parliament, West St Mary, was on hand to applaud the tourists who chose to do charity work instead of enjoying the town in Ocho Rios.
“To break your vacation to give service to a community is commendable, and we would really want to commend you for doing that because you could have found something else to do with your time, and to come and to offer service to children, those who sometimes can’t give back to you immediately, it is very commendable,” Montague said.
The Helping Hands Jamaica Foundation will build its 27th school in Dumfries, St James, this summer.