It’s easy to see what draws movie stars and celebrities to Highland House, an elegant, 7,000-square-foot villa overlooking Jamaica’s Montego Bay. Perched amid 17 acres of private grounds, the Colonial-era estate offers all the charms of this island paradise — lush greenery, azure waters and welcoming people — in posh accommodations.

While renting the six-bedroom (all suites) villa doesn’t come cheap (upwards of $6,500 a week), it does come with a staff of 10, who greeted us with smiles and refreshing coconut water as our intimate group relaxed on the large wraparound balcony. Directly before us were the same lush green grounds and turquoise waters enjoyed by the likes of Tracey Ullman, Neil Armstrong and Oscar Hammerstein. I was on a whole-island food tour with Jacqui Sinclair, Jamaica’s top food writer, and Darrell Burgess, owner of Da Vinci Travel, and happy to kick back and relax for a moment after a week-long marathon of eating.

Since arriving in Jamaica, we had managed to consume authentic jerked pork grilled over allspice branches in the Maroon village of Accompong; fish escabèche cooked in the middle of the ocean at the floating Pelican Bar; seven varieties of pineapple at a plantation turned- living fruit museum (Croyden Estate); mugs of the world’s best coffee at the legendary Strawberry Hill resort nestled in the Blue Mountains; secret-recipe rum punch at Appleton Estates distillery; a breakfast of fried breadfruit, organic plantains, avocados nipped from the trees and artisan-smoked mackerel at the tropical Belcour Farm; and a raw feast made by the silver-dreadlocked Jamaican guru of raw food, Dr. Aris Latham.

“Of all the Caribbean islands, Jamaica is unique for its historic villas,” explained our Highland House hostess, Brenda Isaac, in her charming Southern accent. “This is your own private home and grounds, with a staff that has been here for years—in some cases decades—and has a strong sense of pride in taking care of the guests. This makes for a very warm and welcoming experience.” Isaac, a transplant from Atlanta, Ga., bought the estate in 2000.

Inside, our rooms were elegantly decorated with colorful fabrics and period furniture from the island’s British Colonial era. Built into the hillside, the villa surrounds a courtyard with open-air pool. A serene Buddha on a mahogany table sets the mood, and hints at the yoga hut down the hill. Staff prepare everything from seated, three-course dinners to crunchy wonton-and-peanut sauce pool snacks. Much of the food served comes from the villa’s own organic garden, where plantain, banana, coconut, mango, orange, lime, papaya and exotic ackee trees grow in abundance. The latter produces red-skinned, starchy fruit that is sautéed with salt fish and scallions to create Jamaica’s national dish.

Surrounded by these views, an attentive staff and fresh-from-thegarden food, there is little need to wander past the villa grounds, but our mission was to see Isaac’s ‘One Love’ project. Moved by the welcome she has received from native Jamaicans since 2000, she wanted to give something back, and so expanded her villa garden to grow fresh produce for kids at an elementary school down the road. The garden now feeds 70 kids every day, ensuring that they get a healthy, nutritious meal at lunchtime. In addition, One Love has raised money to provide computers and equipment for the school. Highland House guests get to be part of this ‘circle of love,’ because 25 percent of the rental fee is donated to the project. In addition, guests are invited to harvest and deliver the bounty, if they’d like.

This was a culinary tour, after all, and I didn’t have to be asked twice to taste food plucked from a tropical garden. So we set off with baskets and began poking around the 2-acre garden under the patient supervision of Patrick McBean, the full-time gardener. We harvested heads of callaloo, a tender Jamaican chard found throughout the island; Scotch bonnet peppers; cauliflower; and yams. I spotted vines of succulent hibiscus flowers and picked handfuls to make into sorrel, a tangy ruby red punch flavored with ginger and allspice and spiked with rum. The flower is so pervasive on this island that all over Latin America hibiscus tea is called ‘Agua de Jamaica.’ Our baskets overflowing,
we headed down the dirt road toward the Anchovy School.

The route was lined with makeshift bodegas selling candy, Cup o’ Noodle packets and other nutrition-poor fast foods, underscoring the importance of Isaac’s garden project. A gaggle of boys and girls in uniforms — the school gardening club — was bubbling over to show us the school garden, also part of the One Love project. Best of all, this garden has completed a circle of giving: The junior gardeners bring their harvest to an orphanage nearby, in turn helping those less fortunate than themselves.

We head back to the villa basking in the glow of those children. And I think I have found my perfect vacation: soaking up the Caribbean sun at a private villa, nibbling just-picked fruit from an organic garden, and knowing the spirited kids down the street are benefiting too. 

Every year, support groups flock the island to render much needed help and a few individuals have succeeded in establishing programs which teach, encourage and provide long lasting support to the island’s children. In 2008, Brenda Isaac visited the Anchovy School near her 17-acre luxury villa Highland House in Anchovy just outside of Montego Bay. The former corporate event planner from Atlanta, who spends her time between the States and Jamaica, made the shocking discovery that many of the children did not come to school with lunch or lunch money, and stayed hungry throughout the day. And that was sufficient motivation for Brenda to want to help.

Figuring out how best to provide a lasting program to feed the youngsters, she reached out to the ‘Alliance for a New Humanity’, a global group that connects people who are interested in creating a peaceful, sustainable world through personal and social transformation. “I joined hands with another member of the alliance who was part of a program
called ‘Urban Farming’. We started by building a small organic garden at the school,” explains
Brenda. “Then, we built a small kitchen at the school to prepare food, through funding by some volunteers,” she adds. The small garden and the kitchen have generated many, much needed meals for children at the school.

“Importantly, the project has gotten the children involved in the process of basic farming, starting with the
preparation of the soil to the proud moment of harvesting the produce,” states Brenda. Before long, the project
outgrew its small school garden, so Brenda hired a farmer and designated two acres of her property to extend
the organic garden.

Soon, guests at the Highland House started to ask questions about the project. Many ended up visiting the
school and became involved. “We tell them the story of what we are doing at the school, and invite them to
come with us to deliver food – that’s where the magic begins,” explains Brenda.

For many guests, a visit to the school has been an eye-opening experience. Many have opened up both their
hearts and pocket books to help. One example is David Stonecipher, a retired executive for Lincoln Financial
who offered to buy the school a new PA system after listening to several gargling announcements during his
visit. Another generous person that has helped with the project is Gary Martin from Texas. For the past 5 years,
Gary has a standing reservation for Thanksgiving at Highland House. Not only does he visit the school each
time, he also purchased furniture as well as an industrial stove. Most recently, the Texan funded the painting of
the entire school building inside and out, an effort that encouraged parents and teachers to help. The collaboration made the community feel a sense of pride and ownership and truly expressed the power of ‘One Love’.

Currently, the project is funded through a percentage of the accommodation cost paid by Highland House guests, which is set aside for the school. The project has acquired non-profit status, a Board and the name ‘One Love Learning’.

The organization’s long-term goal is to connect three schools via an international satellite network,
the original school in Jamaica, a school in the Sudan, Africa and a school in Atlanta, US. Says Brenda, “We aim to connect children from different parts of the world, so they can experience diversity, while recognizing their similarities and unity.”

“The children in Jamaica, for example, are 99 percent black, but they have no real affiliation with Africa,” Brenda
points out. “When I went to Africa and visited a school there, it was so interesting because they couldn’t tell
you where Jamaica was on a map, but they all knew Bob Marley,” she adds.

The initiative also includes a teacher’s exchange program among the three schools, so that students can learn
the geography, history, music, art and language of the two other countries from a native teacher. Additionally,
students will be able to ‘meet’ face-to-face via satellite and exchange letters in pen-pal fashion.

Visitors who look beyond the resort walls and befriend locals will find warm and welcoming people, who for the
most part live a simple life and helping people in this wonderful country can be a rewarding experience.

An innovative nonprofit — geared towards organic gardening in low-income schools on three continents — springs from a luxury resort in Jamaica.

In Montego Bay, Jamaica, what started with luxury vacation villas offering golf and massage has spiraled into a nonprofit called One Love Learning, which provides local Jamaican elementary students with nourishing organic food and plans to unite three schools — one in Montego Bay, one in Sudan and one in Atlanta — in a trinity of expanded learning.

The force behind this inspiring enterprise is Brenda Isaac. A former corporate event planner, Isaac owns property in Jamaica that was formerly the estate of Oscar Hammerstein, icon of the American opera theater. These days the land is a 17-acre luxury resort called Highland House, offering high-end vacations complete with private butlers and chefs.

“It started with me wanting to give back to the community I was living in [on the island],” Isaac says. Upon visiting a local school to see what was needed, however, Isaac made a disturbing discovery. “It came to my attention that the children were hungry,” she recalls. “The government does not provide a school lunch program and basically these children come to school with money from their parents and walk into town every day to get lunch. And there’s a percentage of children who go to that school who don’t have lunch money — quite simply, they don’t eat.”

Isaac reached out to the Alliance for a New Humanity, a global group started by Dr. Deepak Chopra that connects people who are interested in creating a peaceful, sustainable world through personal and social transformation.

“I joined hands with another member of the alliance called Urban Farming and we started by building a small organic garden at the school,” she says. “Then through some funding by volunteers we built a small cantina to prepare the food.”

But they soon realized the school’s garden space was too small to accommodate all the children who needed to be fed, so Isaac hired a farmer and designated two of her 17 acres at Highland House for an organic garden to supplement the school’s.

“Then comes the part that happened truly organically,” she says. “Our guests would come to the island house and we would say to them, ‘Why don’t you come down to the garden and pick the food you want to eat tonight?’ We would tell them the story of what we were doing at the school, and invite them to come with us to deliver food — that’s where the magic began.”

Guests not only delighted in selecting their own produce, but also found the school visits to be both eye- and heart-opening experiences. In turn, these generous individuals and families opened their pocketbooks to help. One such gentleman, David Stonecipher, a retired executive for Lincoln Financial, offered to buy a new PA system for the school after listening to several gargling announcements during his visit.

According to Isaac, it’s now normal for guests to stay at Highland House intending to golf and sail, only to wind up visiting the school and becoming so involved they rarely leave. These experiences have caused Isaac to personally recognize the philosophic teachings of Satish Kumar, who emphasizes the deep relationship between the soul, the soil and society.

The project is currently funded by Highland House guests along with a percentage of rental income, and has taken off, achieving nonprofit status, a board, and the name One Love Learning. The long-term goal of OLL is to connect via satellite network three schools — the original in Jamaica, one in the Sudan and one in Atlanta. The motivation is to connect the children with others from different parts of the world so they can experience diversity while recognizing their similarities and unity.

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“The children in Jamaica, for example, are 99 percent black, but they have no real affiliation with Africa,” Isaac points out. “And when I went to Africa and visited a school there, it was so interesting because they couldn’t tell you where Jamaica was on a map, but they all knew Bob Marley!”

The idea includes a teacher-exchange program among the three schools so students can learn geography, history, music, art and language of the other country from a native teacher. In addition, students will be able to meet via satellite as well as exchange letters in pen-pal fashion.

Isaac is excited about the impact the project could have on the children. “These students,” she says, “their spirits are rich … and [they'll] be able to have a facility where they can connect with one another.”

The Highland House In Montego Bay Offers A Taste Of The Real Jamaica

It’s easy to see what draws movie stars and celebrities to Highland House, an elegant 7,000-square-foot villa overlooking Jamaica’s Montego Bay. Perched amid 17 acres of private grounds, the Colonial-era estate offers all the charms of this island paradise – lush greenery, azure waters and welcoming people – in posh accommodations.

While renting the six-beadroom (all suites) villa doesn’t come cheap (upward from $6,500). It does come with a staff of 10, who greeted us with smiles and refreshing coconut water as our intimate group relaxed on the large wraparound balcony. Directly before us: the same lush green grounds and turquoise waters enjoyed by the likes of Tracey Ullman, Neil Armstrong and Oscar Hammerstein. I was on a two-week food tour of Jamaica and happy to kick back and relax before the meal marathons would begin.

“Of all the Caribbean islands, Jamaica is unique for its historic villas.” explained Highland House owner Brenda Isaac in her charming Southern accent. “This is your own private home and grounds, with a staff that has been here for years – in some cases decades – and has a strong sense of pride in taking care of the guests. This makes for a very warm and welcoming experience.” Isaac, a transplant from Atlanta,Georgia, bought the estate in 2000.

Inside, our rooms were elegantly decorated with colorful fabrics and period furniture from the island’s British Colonial era. Built into the hillside, the villa surrounds a courtyard with an open-air pool. Staff prepare everything from seated, three-course dinners to crunchy wonton-and-peanut-sauce pool snacks. Much of the food served comes from the villa’s own organic garden, where plantain, banana, coconut, mango, orange, lime,papaya and exotic akkee tree grow trees grow in abundance. The latter produces red-skinned, starchy fruit that is sautéed with salt fish and scallion to create Jamaica’s national dish, salt fish and akkee.

Surrounded by these views, an attentive staff and fresh-from-the-garden food, there is little need to wander past the villa grounds, but our mission was to see Isaac;s One Love project. Moved by the welcome she received from native Jamaicans since 2000, she wanted to give something back, and so expanded her villa garden to grow fresh produce for kids at an elementary school down the street.

The garden now feeds 70 kids every day, ensuring that they get a healthy, nutritious meal at lunchtime. In addition, One Love has raised money to provide computers and equipment for the school. Highland house guests are invited to harvest and deliver the bounty, if they like.

This was a culinary tour, after all, and I didn’t have to be asked twice to taste food plucked from a tropical garden.

So we set off with baskets and began poking around the two-acre garden under the patient supervision of Patrick MeBean, the full-time gardener. We harvested heads of callaloo, a tender Jamaican chard found throughout the island. Scotch bonnet peppers, cauliflower and yams. I spotted vines of succulent hibiscus flowers and picked handfuls to make into sorrel, a tangy ruby red punch flavored with ginger and allspice, spiked with rum. the flower is so pervasive on this island that all over Latin America hibiscus tea is called Agua de Jamaica. Our baskets overflowing, we headed down the dirt road toward the Anchovy School. A gaggle of boys and girls in tan uniforms – the school gardening club – was bubbling over to show us the school garden, also part of the the One Love project.

We headed back the the villa basking in the glow of those children. I had enjoyed the perfect vacation: soaking up the Carribbean sun at my own villa, nibbling just-picked fruit from an organic garden and knowing the spirited kids down the street are benefitting too.