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Edu-Tourism, Inc., is a non-profit organization (NGO) that creates opportunities for learning, community service, and travel by connecting people from overseas to the people of Jamaica.  The NGO works with groups in Jamaica to identify appropriate community development projects.  It then links these projects with people (in Jamaica, the U.S., and elsewhere) who can provide needed human and financial resources to support the projects.

Currently, efforts are concentrated in the Parish of St. Thomas, which is located at the Southeast tip of Jamaica, near the capital city of Kingston.  (A Jamaican Parish is the U.S. equivalent of a state or county).  Although St. Thomas has its share of natural beauty, it is not a Jamaican tourist destination; it thus offers the opportunity to experience Jamaica as a country and not only as a beach resort.  The Parish has many natural resources: the high mountains from which Blue Mountain coffee comes, rivers, fertile plains and hillsides that are still cultivated in bananas and sugar, and, of course, beaches.  It is also rich in local history and culture.  Two of the national heroes of Jamaica are from St. Thomas.  They are Paul Bogle, leader of the Morant Bay Rebellion of 1865 against the colonial government.  Bogle was a landowner and deacon in the African Baptist Church, who organized and helped poor farmers.  George William Gordon was the son of a slave woman and a planter, who was educated and attained to a number of elected offices.  He was a neighbor of Bogle and also a defender of the rights of poor farmers.  (Go to http://www.moec.gov.jm/heroes to learn more).  Local cultural celebrations include kumina, crop-over festivals, and others (to learn about Jamaican folklore and culture, go to:  http://luna.cas.usf.edu/~alaing/jfolk.html; http://www.jamaicans.com/culture).

Directors and Board Members of Edu-Tourism include educators, professionals, and business owners (i.e. Nicola Shirley, owner of Jerk Hut Jamaican Restaurant on South Street).  Two serve in the College of Education at Temple University: Dr. Trevor Sewell and Dr. Novella Keith.

For more information on Edu-Tourism Initiative, visit the official NGO website http://www.edu-tourism.org