#9. Validating Voices: Joanne Richardson-Gough on Language, Worship & Jamaica’s Global Impact

What does it mean when your mother tongue isn’t recognized in your own country? In this captivating conversation, Jamaican cultural advocate and ethnodoxologist Jo-Ann Richards Goffe takes us on a journey through language, identity, and spiritual expression that transcends borders.

Jo-Ann introduces us to ethnodoxology—helping communities worship through their indigenous languages and artistic expressions. From workshops in West Africa to translating the New Testament into Jamaican language, her work challenges colonial legacies that positioned English as “superior.”

We explore:

• How ethnodoxology empowers communities to worship using their own languages and cultural art forms
• Why Jamaica’s native language still struggles for recognition despite independence
• How music across genres—reggae, dancehall, revival—carries spiritual and cultural meaning
• The role of cultural figures like Louise Bennett-Coverly in advocating for Jamaican identity
• Jamaica’s outsized influence on global culture through music, sport, and literature
• Jo-Ann’s personal journey from being fined for speaking Jamaican at home to leading its validation through worship and music

This episode is a moving reminder that “when you validate a language, you validate the speakers of that language.”

Connect with Jo-Ann Richards Goffe

• 🌍 Website: joannfaithrichards.com
• 🎶 Ministry: crew40-4.com
• 📖 Books:
  • Godincidences!: A Jamaican Woman's Journeys with God
  • Auntie Jo-Jo Goes Vegan
• 💿 Albums:
  • Kom Mek Wi Worship
  • Kom Mek Wi Worship 2: Di Revilieshan
• 📺 YouTube: @joannrichardsgoffe
• 📸 Instagram: @joann_faith_richards
• 👍 Facebook: facebook.com/joann.richards.357

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome to World Changers
• 1:54 Meet Jo-Ann Richards Goffe, Christian Cultural Advocate
• 3:15 Ethnodoxology: Music Across Cultures
• 6:52 Jamaican Language and Cultural Identity
• 15:48 Jamaica's Cultural Impact and Heritage
• 26:08 Godincidences! A Jamaican Woman's Journeys with God
• 29:25 Visiting Jamaica: Must-Visit Places
• 38:19 Jamaican Food & Drink

Transcript

AmickyCarol Akiwumi MBE: 0:02

Hey World Changers, welcome to your podcast. I'm Amiki Carroll and I travel the world with a sense of adventure and purpose exploring, learning, having fun and meeting remarkable individuals who are transforming their communities and beyond. Join me as we dive into the inspiring journeys of changemakers from every corner of the globe, tuning in weekly for stories that might just change your life, ignite your passion and show you how ordinary people can create extraordinary impact. Subscribe now on your favorite podcast platform and follow us on social media at World.

Jo-Ann Richards Goffe: 0:35

Changers PC and get ready to take off.

AmickyCarol Akiwumi MBE: 0:47

Hi everyone and welcome again to World Changers podcast. My name is and I am really pleased today to be joined by Joanne Richardson. Now you guys know that this podcast aims to shed light on ordinary people who are doing extraordinary things to make a positive impact in their communities and beyond, and on my journeys.

Jo-Ann Richards Goffe: 1:14

I meet these interesting people in the different countries that I go to and through these insightful conversations that I've had with I'm hoping to inspire you and equip you to take action and create meaningful change in your own life and in the world around you.

AmickyCarol Akiwumi MBE: 1:31

So if we dive straight in, Joanne, welcome. Really pleased to have you.

Jo-Ann Richards Goffe: 1:36

We've been trying to do this for a while and I'm so pleased that we finally managed to do it. I was recently in Jamaica. Couldn't see you because you broke your leg, but that hasn't stopped us. We still managed to connect. So can I just ask you to introduce yourself to our audience? Okay, greetings. Greetings from Jamaica.

Jo-Ann Richards Goffe: 1:57

My name is Joanne Richards-Gough and I am yes, I can see the look on your face okay, okay, okay, something's happened. I am a, a worshiper, seeking it, the worship of right. Recruiting other people to worship and discipling them in worship that's what I feel called to do, and I'm also a cultural advocate. Okay, so in that role, I'm an ethnodoxologist. Wow, proving and facilitating other people in worshiping God using their own indigenous heart, language and other cultural, artistic expressions. This must be the first time I've come across that word. Oh, certainly. I'm not even going to try and say it, but I do want you to repeat that. You said ethnodoxologist. Yes, oh, I got it first time. Tell me a little bit more about that. I also know that you are an avid traveler yourself, so how does that connect to the things you do? How did you get into that at all? How did I get into ethnodoxology. So I started off on the road of being an ethnomusicologist, right. So my second degree is in ethnomusicology and I got involved in it. I keep telling people that God tricked me into doing that degree because I had no intention of doing a master's degree, naïve it or not, of doing a master's degree, naibit or na. Okay. But then I wanted to get involved in cross-control mission, okay.

Jo-Ann Richards Goffe: 3:51

And I read a story once of a guy who was working in Brazil among the Canela people. He was a musician but he just couldn't sing and dance with the people. I mean, he was always sounding off key and be dancing off rhythm and he couldn't figure it out. But then he had a friend who was an ethnomusicologist. So he invited that friend over to come and record some of these guys' music and see if he could analyze it and then to write some new songs for the people based on the scripture. Because this guy was a translator okay, he was translating the bible into the canela language. So now he invited his friend. His friend came over, recorded the music, went back home, wrote some songs, came back the following year and introduced it to the people. Oh, wow. And he said it was like pouring gas on a campfire, the way the people responded to both the music and the message that the music was bringing. So I was like I want to do that of course, chorus. And that is how I ended up in ethnomusicology.

Jo-Ann Richards Goffe: 5:14

And I was based for a while in in west africa, in burkina faso okay, doing songwriting workshops and things like that but became a part of a community which is now called the Global Ethnodoxology Network, and what had happened was that it started off with just the musicians, but the other artists wanted to be a part of it. They said why are you leaving us out? Also want to encourage people in using their own language and their own music genres to worship? So not music, because, no, it was the dancers, the visual artists and all of this. So, yeah, I'm a part of that community, the Global Ethnodoxology Network, and it's quite a few of us Absolutely Working around the world. Yes, wonderful, I absolutely love the idea of people being able to do things in their own mother tongue, if you like because it's so much more meaningful.

Jo-Ann Richards Goffe: 6:15

As somebody who speaks several languages, I know the difference between when something is said in another tongue that means so much to me.

AmickyCarol Akiwumi MBE: 6:24

It's just incredible it's, you know. It takes on a new meaning.

Jo-Ann Richards Goffe: 6:28

Okay, all right, thank you so much. That's really. I may ask what is your mother tongue? That's interesting. I mean, if I go by what my parents speak, I'll probably say Igbo. If I go by you know where I was raised. Or my husband, you know I would say Yoruba. Yeah, Interesting Right yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, understand both, so it's really great. Ok, All right, can you just tell me, because you mentioned you said you were a cultural communicator or cultural Cultural advocate? Cultural advocate that's the one.

AmickyCarol Akiwumi MBE: 7:04

Yes, what does?

Jo-Ann Richards Goffe: 7:04

that mean it means that I, as I said, I encourage people to embrace their cultural identity. Okay, and then I take it a step further and say listen, god accepts you as you are, in who you are, so, so bring your real self into the worship space. But yes, it means so. For example, in Jamaica, you are bilingual, I don't know. Here you discovered that there are people and you probably had difficulty understanding them sometimes. There are people and you probably had difficulty understanding them sometimes.

Jo-Ann Richards Goffe: 7:47

I'm fortunate because I've been exposed to Pato for so long. It's not too difficult for me. But yes, I do have a colleague here in the UK who I've worked with for many, many years and he's been a consultant in my organization helping us facilitate some programs. And yeah, some people struggle to understand here because, right, so we have these two languages. Only one of these two languages is recognized. Okay, for clarity, can you tell us which two languages? So we have the English language and we have the Jamaican language, which we call Patro. Okay, but it is a Jamaican language. If you go to Spain, the people are Spanish, the language is Spanish. If you go to France, the people are French, the language is French. You come to Jamaica, the people are Jamaican, the language is Jamaican To Jamaica the people are Jamaican, the language is Jamaican, yeah, okay.

Jo-Ann Richards Goffe: 8:44

So if I might just ask and check with you, whilst it's Jamaican, the same patois is spoken across many other countries, is it not? Or do you think it's only? It's not identical, so the Jamaican Creole would be different from the Bajan Creole, for example. Okay, the Antiguan Creole is maybe closer, but it's still different, and we can tell the difference, can you? The accent, as well as the Creole itself. Yeah, interesting, okay, so this is an aha moment, I would imagine, for a lot of people who are listening who thought oh yeah, it is not.

AmickyCarol Akiwumi MBE: 9:34

Creole is Creole, it is not. Yes, jamaican is a completely different language. Okay, Thank you so much, yep Carry on Right, right.

Jo-Ann Richards Goffe: 9:44

so one of the things that I do is to promote the jamaican new testament because the we have getting it used in the church spaces. So that's one of the things I do. I have a YouTube channel where, you know, we post readings from it every day. And why do you think, after 12 years, after a dozen years, it's still very difficult. And when you say you're struggling to get it used, is it by people in Jamaica? Is it by Jamaicans in the diaspora? Who? Why is it? Well, let's start with people in Jamaica.

Jo-Ann Richards Goffe: 10:34

Okay, all right, because there is still a struggle to accept the language as a language. Oh, yes, oh, atlet, yes, so it is viewed as being bad English by some people, even though linguists have identified it to be a full language in and of itself for years. Interesting, and it also comes with this stigma attached, you know, from slavery days, and so this is it's not good enough for certain certain spaces, so it's definitely not good enough for church in some people's minds. Oh, wow. So that's one of the issues that we've had to struggle with. That's interesting. What about? Across the country, do people have literature on books? And, you know, even in school do they use the Jamaican language as an alternative. It's not used as an alternative officially. Now there may be a few teachers who have discovered that the way to get their students learning is to use it, but it is not being officially used.

AmickyCarol Akiwumi MBE: 11:48

No, so why?

Jo-Ann Richards Goffe: 11:49

are the. So what you're telling me is that in jamaica, the queen's english is the official language, not the jamaican language.

AmickyCarol Akiwumi MBE: 11:58

Yes, ma'am, how extraordinary, even in 22 years of independence yes, sir, you're not yet independent from her majesty's language or his majesty's, you know you know, let me see if I can try and stand up for the people who are fat.

Jo-Ann Richards Goffe: 12:15

You have to understand it was such a strong push against against who we were essentially so, that if we were to be accepted as being valuable and valid human beings, we needed to be like the colonizers. So the more we were like them is, the better we were and the more they were accepted. And that was. And then you kind of got lost in the whole trail of. So how did we get here again? You know, we got lost.

Jo-Ann Richards Goffe: 12:54

So some people don't even realize that people had to. In order to be accepted. In some schools, for example, you had to be a member of a church. Oh, correct, yes, and so it. It's a whole lot of things that now we need to get to know ourselves better. But I must say, though, that there has been increase in the acceptance, in people's accepting the language. There is a Jamaican language unit based at the University of the West Indies, mono, where they have done a lot of work in even developing curricula from grades one to four. They have developed the curriculum in both languages so that the children can be taught bilingually. However, it has not been pushed through to actually be activated in the schools.

AmickyCarol Akiwumi MBE: 13:59

Yeah.

Jo-Ann Richards Goffe: 13:59

But at least that's a step forward. Yeah, or the material is there, so when the people are ready. The material is there, so when the people are ready material is there.

AmickyCarol Akiwumi MBE: 14:05

I love that and I honestly hope that you know there will be an acceleration of acceptance and you know implementation, because it's so important I can't even begin to imagine what it does to people's identity and their psyche to think that your language is inferior, to think that your language is inferior.

Jo-Ann Richards Goffe: 14:25

When you validate a language, you validate the speakers of that. So that is what I'm waiting for all our people to be validated. But one of the other things I did which helps to open the door a little better is to write songs, and I told I can't even claim the songs for my own, I have to say God gave me these songs, a few of them. I sat and intentionally wrote them, but still by his inspiration, right. So, using the Jamaican language, using Jamaican music genre. Yeah.

Jo-Ann Richards Goffe: 15:06

We've put out there and I mean there's a wide range of, you know, you have the one drop reggae, you have dancehall, you have mental, you know revival, all of these music genres. So we have been, I have been writing those. So I have two albums oh wow, nice On the Jamaican New Testament Fantastic, Except for this one song that's based on Psalm 23. Okay, all right, okay, but yeah, we'll definitely make sure that we link to all of those for sure so that people can check them out.

AmickyCarol Akiwumi MBE: 15:45

Yeah, we'll make sure that we link to all of those for sure so that people can check them out.

Jo-Ann Richards Goffe: 15:46

Yeah that's really great. And how would you say how much of? Because I hear you talking about music and that's certainly one thing that Jamaica's given the world.

AmickyCarol Akiwumi MBE: 15:55

You know lots of amazing music, and who can even forget Bob Marley? You cannot talk about Jamaica without thinking about Bob Marley.

Jo-Ann Richards Goffe: 16:04

Yeah one of the greatest of all time Still resonates. The movie was out this year. Yes, yeah, so it's fantastic. How much would you say that Jamaica has actually shaped you in terms of as a person growing up and all of the stuff that you're doing Wow, okay, up, and all of the stuff that you're doing Wow, okay. So, for one thing and we've been having this argument in Jamaica about whether Louise Bennett-Covelly should be a national hero or an icon, and can you tell us who he is yes, louise Bennett-Covelly, it's a she. Ah, it's a she. Louise, okay, okay, louise, okay.

Jo-Ann Richards Goffe: 16:46

And she was a champion for Jamaican language. Okay, she started off in the UK, actually, because she went there to study. Don't know if that's where she started. I actually don't know that, I think about it, but she did a lot of work there in the UK and then back in Jamaica. So she was both an advocate or activist for the Jamaican language as well as being an artist. So she wrote a whole lot of poems, she wrote some songs and she wrote some stories. She was a writer, storyteller, a poet and a songwriter, and I grew up listening to her program on the television, watching her program on the television.

Jo-Ann Richards Goffe: 17:34

She had a program called Rinding with children, and so she would have these little children performing and then, you know, she would encourage them and then she would say her poems and they would. She was a huge impact on me. So here's the thing my first language is English. Okay, yes, english was what was spoken in my home. On pain of fine, we were fined money if we spoke anything that was not the queen's english. I guess it's now the king's english.

Jo-Ann Richards Goffe: 18:13

So, yes, my mother, um, she banned the use of the jamaican language in the home, but I didn't know it at first because it wasn't spoken at home. But then I started growing old and I started hearing it and I fell in love with it and her poems were being published. So I got a book with her poems and I would just sit down and read them and my mother was in shock because because but she couldn't stop me, because she had a huge level of regard for anything that was written, anything in a book. It's like wow, and here was Louise Bennett's poems in a book. So she couldn't stop me from speaking the language because it was in this book. Well, she could stop me from speaking it, but she didn't want to stop me from reading it because she was just amazed that I could and then. So that was one thing, and then, of course, the folk songs. So these things I mean, and I learned them in school and they were embedded in my heart.

Jo-Ann Richards Goffe: 19:23

I must say that my mother, she passed away. Thursday gone would be three years since she passed away and this mother, who had banned the speaking of the Jamaican language in this house, she was on her way through the Jamaican New Testament for the third time. Oh, wow, okay, she had to come. Okay, Change of heart. That's another story, for another way. Oh, she turned around.

Jo-Ann Richards Goffe: 19:50

It is a story yes but the other thing is the jamaica's national anthem, the motto and the pledge. In fact, my friend Yvonne Coke has written a book called Perspectives on the Jamaican Map. It's A for the motto, a for the anthem and P for the pledge. And if we were really to live according to this map, we would be a different world today. Map, we would be a different world today because, first of all, the motto. The motto says, out of many one people, yeah, yeah.

Jo-Ann Richards Goffe: 20:32

Then the anthem is a prayer. It's a prayer to eternal father to bless our land, you know. And then you're getting down toward the chorus. It says justice, truth, be ours forever, jamaica land we love. So every time we sing our anthem we're praying together as a nation.

Jo-Ann Richards Goffe: 20:53

But the pledge, the pledge is mind-blowing and I think the pledge had predisposed me to my love for travel. But not just travel, but travel with a purpose. Right Pledge is before God at all mankind. I pledge the love and loyalty of my heart, the wisdom and courage of my mind, the strength and vigor of my body in the service of my fellow citizens. I promise to stand up for justice, brotherhood and peace, to work diligently and creatively, to think generously and honestly so that Jamaica may, under God, increase in beauty, fellowship and prosperity Wow, here is the part and play her part in advancing the welfare of the whole human race. Oh, wow. Now for a little country like Jamaica to take on such a huge mission. It's just mind-blowing really, and I think that those were the things that really shaped the development of my life Right, shaped the development of my life right that plus the fact that jamaica is we are said to have the most churches per square mile.

Jo-Ann Richards Goffe: 22:36

So I've heard, so I've heard yeah, so you know there was that um it has its. It has its pluses and minuses, but those are the things about Jamaica that shaped me. We tend to be also just a very. I think that we take too much for granted where we are concerned. I don't think it has dawned on us that if you draw the map just a little smaller, we disappear. And yet we have given to the world so much through people like Bob Marley, through people like Marcus Garvey.

AmickyCarol Akiwumi MBE: 23:23

Usain Bolt, one of my favorites.

Jo-Ann Richards Goffe: 23:28

Yeah, exactly how does a little nation like Jamaica think it's normal to compete on the world stage Yep and feel a way when we don't win Yep, and to do so Make your opponents the win?

AmickyCarol Akiwumi MBE: 23:45

And to do so, and you guys do so with listen with all the confidence, expecting to win. No athletic championship would be truly, magnificently entertaining without that competition between the US and Jamaica. But I can tell you my favorite moment was the bobsled team.

Jo-Ann Richards Goffe: 24:08

I couldn't even fathom how.

AmickyCarol Akiwumi MBE: 24:12

It's not just that it's a tiny country. It's a tiny country. Nobody knows what snow looks like and to qualify to go to the, come on.

Jo-Ann Richards Goffe: 24:21

It's extraordinary. So talking with you right now and just kind of going through these things is doing something for me. I'm so pleased Because if I were on the verge of giving up on something at this point I'd be like, no, that's not my heritage.

AmickyCarol Akiwumi MBE: 24:43

You know what I'm so pleased? You said that I have no doubt that lots of people will be encouraged by this conversation, but I'm also pleased that you will be encouraged to carry on, because you are making huge impact.

Jo-Ann Richards Goffe: 24:54

You know and that's the same with other people Social impact, world changers, as I call us Sometimes the going gets rough. It's difficult to pick yourself up, especially in the face of so much opposition sometimes, or discouragement, that comes from not just seeing change happen as fast as you want.

AmickyCarol Akiwumi MBE: 25:15

So I'm really pleased that you're just going to carry on because we can't afford to.

Jo-Ann Richards Goffe: 25:20

We cannot afford to, because, at the end of the day, we don't inherit this world from anyone. If anything, we leave it for those who are coming after us, and it's on us to make sure that we leave it at least the way we found it. But if you're clever, and if you're even grateful for any breath of air and life, that you have.

Jo-Ann Richards Goffe: 25:47

you want to live it better and it doesn't take too much to just make sure it's that bit better Moving the dial you know, on your watch, definitely, and during the time that you might have, no matter how long or short.

AmickyCarol Akiwumi MBE: 25:59

So I want to thank you. Thank you for the work that you do, thank you for the change you're making, thank you for the encouraging words that you've brought and I know that you've also written a book.

Jo-Ann Richards Goffe: 26:10

So would you like to talk about that book before we actually go into Jamaica, because that's a favorite tourist destination and we cannot leave this conversation without exploring some of those things. Okay, so the book is called God Incidences A Jumping on Women's Journeys with God Nice, and it is. The foreword was actually written by one of my lecturers at the Jamaica Theological Seminary, so I did mention. My second degree is ethnomusicology. My first degree is in theology, with a minor in guidance and counseling.

Jo-Ann Richards Goffe: 26:54

So, dr Samuel Vassarode forward, but this book is a collection of stories from my adventures with God and to different parts of the world, from Switzerland to Curacao, to Burkina Faso and Benin to Costa Rica, peru, oh, wow, yeah. But the focus is on God's sovereignty, to show how God has been weaving a story through my life and that he has always been there and been in control. So, in fact, the book was first published as god incidences adventuring with an awesomely sovereign, sovereignly awesome god and published Published in 2010. Oh, wow. But then I wanted to add some more to it, so give updates on certain things, because in the first edition, there was a story of my romantic adventures, right and then after, so I published that in 2010. I got married in 2015.

Jo-Ann Richards Goffe: 28:05

Okay, and so I wanted to update that story, of course, as well as to talk about because God incidence it was a word that I thought, I came up with, but then, since then, I've seen other people using that word. Yep, but then there was another word that my brother coined but which I have defined. So he said, when I sent him a story about my first visit to the UK and all that transpired along the way and all that transpired when I was there on that first visit to the UK and he said this is not a God incidence, this is a Godspiracy. Come on, zaha, I got it. So the God's Spirit is a series of God incidences that are divinely connected for a divine purpose. I love it.

AmickyCarol Akiwumi MBE: 29:02

Okay, that's interesting. Never heard that one. I'm going to start using it for sure. So thank your brother. Thank your brother, like God's Spirit, say Good, good, fantastic. Listen. So I know you're in Kingston, right, I'm in.

Jo-Ann Richards Goffe: 29:19

Kingston yeah, because we're based in Kingston. Yeah, good, good, fantastic listen, so I know you're in kingston, right having kingston.

AmickyCarol Akiwumi MBE: 29:22

Yeah, because one day is in kingston. Yeah, here is manchester, though. Ah, okay, so just talk people through the different wards, in, in in jamaica, and then tell them what your favorite thing to do, or what you recommend if somebody visits to do.

Jo-Ann Richards Goffe: 29:36

Okay, the first thing you said was the different. What, yeah? So the different parishes? I know they're called parishes and parishes. Oh my goodness, geography class studies class, I can help. So we have kingston. Lets me go west of Kingston. So you have Kingston. St Andrew. St Catherine. Clarendon my husband is around the corner hinting to me now. So you have Clarendon, manchester. St Elizabeth Is it West Milan next? So there are quite a few. So I don't blame you for not knowing. I don't want to see you perish.

AmickyCarol Akiwumi MBE: 30:15

Yeah, there are 14. So don't blame me for not knowing. There are 14, so don't blame me for not knowing. So you said kingston, clarendon, st elizabeth, did you say?

Jo-Ann Richards Goffe: 30:22

st anne, because I haven't got to st anne. Oh, I get it, because it is on the north coast. I was going off coming back. Now, you know, west moulin, westmoreland, then St James, then I mentioned Hanover, right, and at St James, after St James, is St Anne, no, trelawney, trelawney. And then St Anne. Did you mention Portland? St Mary? I'm getting there, do you know, and it's beside St Mary. Okay, we've got St Thomas, and then you go back around to Kingston and St Andrew.

Jo-Ann Richards Goffe: 31:00

Yes, well done, well done. Yeah, that's real weird. People normally end up going on the North Coast somewhere. Petal is between Montego Bay yes, uchurrios. Yeah, uchurrios is in St Anne, montego Bay is Uchurrios. Yeah, uchurrios is in St Anne, montego Bay is in St James, but Negril is also a very hot spot. Yeah.

Jo-Ann Richards Goffe: 31:27

It is Negril is in. Is it in Hanover or Westmoreland? I'm asking my husband. I don't know. Yeah, but I know that Negril is. They go West Milan. I believe it. Negril is definitely in West Milan. Okay, so the the two ends. On the east you have Morant point and in the west it's Negril point okay and it's about 144 miles. I'm not remembering all of it's about 144 miles. I'm not remembering all of it. It's a tiny island actually to be honest.

Jo-Ann Richards Goffe: 32:04

I wouldn't call it tiny. I wouldn't call it tiny because I have lived on Cayman Brac Okay, 12 miles from east to west, a mile and a half from north to south, and I lived there for a year and a half. Yes, so I wouldn't call it tiny. Okay, takes that back. Oh, wow, it's small, but not as small as all the other or other sister countries in the caribbean, that's true actually, which are, when we didn't know better, we used to call them small islands and they weren't happy with that, and I don't blame them. But and really the Caribbean is a whole nother story, because we really are brothers and sisters and cousins and aunties and uncles, that's true. We weren't brought.

Jo-Ann Richards Goffe: 32:54

Most, 90 odd percent of Jamaicans have descended from africans who were enslaved yeah, that's true, that's true, and some of us was let, were let off here, some were taken to the us, some were taken to brazil, and and then you have all the other caribbean islets in between.

Jo-Ann Richards Goffe: 33:15

So this is our heritage, really, I mean yeah I and I look forward to just us getting reconnected. When it's just us and I are being reconnected, no, my mother, by the way, did her her dna, oh wow. And she is on her mother's side. She's Yoruba, so we're cousins. If you are from Yoruba, my husband is, yeah, with your husband, right? Your mother, your family is Igbo, right?

Jo-Ann Richards Goffe: 33:49

So tell me, if somebody had yeah, that's true, that's true. If somebody had a week in Jamaica, where would you recommend that? They must not miss on. What is there to do? Okay, that one. That one has stopped me because you know the typical thing is to go to an all-inclusive hotel. You know the typical thing is to go to an all-inclusive hotel and and that's good, you know, if you love that, that's a great thing to do. And there are quite a few with very good reputations half moon, bay, you know all of those. So, yeah, okay, got that. But if they wanted to do a little bit of exploring, exploring, no, saint elizabeth okay, black river yes, I know that there have been people who exploring though St Elizabeth, okay, black River, yes, I know that there have been people who have sighted crocodiles on that side. Yeah, there's that. Getting up into the Blue Mountain. Oh, yes, I've been. It's one of the greatest things ever. If there are people who like to hike, hike to the Blue Mountain Peak yeah, I have, because I've never dollied myself and yeah.

AmickyCarol Akiwumi MBE: 35:08

I didn't. I have to be honest.

Jo-Ann Richards Goffe: 35:10

I didn't hike, but I went for the coffee so, you know, for the coffee, because the Blue Mountain Coffee, because Jamaica has the number one coffee in the world, so it is very good. I mean, some people say it's number two, but look, I place it as number one because, yeah, the other one is not one that I'm very fond of. Okay, the way it comes out or anything. I just can't get past that. But yes, yeah thing it's. I just can't get past that. But, yes, yeah, so it's. But driving through was an amazing experience just during that. So, yep, I would definitely recommend that. Yes, of course, portland is also a beautiful space. Ah, really. So my husband grew up going to Portland to visit family every summer. I came later on, so we spent our honeymoon in Portland. It's back Signed up Nice, and of course I mean Oroko Beso. Oh, yes, I was in Oroko Beso this last visit. Yeah, nice, olden, I James Bond guy who wrote the James Bond story. Yeah, it's right there. That was the inspiration. In fact, these have been filmed there. It's beautiful, stunning.

AmickyCarol Akiwumi MBE: 36:31

Yeah, I have to say Agreed.

Jo-Ann Richards Goffe: 36:33

Yeah, and of course there are all the usual things. There's Bob Marley's house I was going to say Independence Sky Museum and of course, in St Anne, both Marcus Garvey and Bob Marley are from St Anne, so going to where they grew up, yes, is also a good place. Trying to think of oh, I'm sure, listen, I'm sure museums, if you're a museum place person, and the, the gallery, the national art gallery, downtown. There's a lot of beautiful art. In jamaica, I have to say, there's also quite a lot of water. So if you wanted to do sports, water sports, or to just go to, like waterfalls and things like that, lots and lots of Don's River, don's River, don's River spray, yeah. Yeah.

Jo-Ann Richards Goffe: 37:28

I agree, flybaker Falls is something people do and then they get a t-shirt afterwards. I unfortunately could not honestly get a t-shirt afterwards. I unfortunately could not honestly get a t-shirt. I went halfway up and slid my way back down. Oh wow, with many bruises to show for it.

Jo-Ann Richards Goffe: 37:46

It's after all the day. Clearly I was not that kind of person, Not for you. But I like water, I like the. A few times I have lived when I was outside of my parents' home I sought out hill locations, mountain locations, because it's just nothing else to be at the top of the mountain and just looking down and seeing just the view, both water and vegetation. Yeah, it's amazing.

AmickyCarol Akiwumi MBE: 38:17

Yeah, I suppose it wouldn't um be a miss to finish by saying that jamaica has probably the best rum in the world.

Jo-Ann Richards Goffe: 38:28

I have not sampled around the world, as no one that's.

Jo-Ann Richards Goffe: 38:33

That's that's what I've heard too, you know I don't know, I haven't tasted everything around the world, but Jamaican rum is good. No, but seriously, jamaican food, yeah, food's good. Yeah, all right, so if you are a meat eater, then you've got the oxtail. Yes, that's true. Actually, of course, there's all the jerk stuff. Yeah, and anything. Yeah and anything. Yeah, I mean, one of my favorite things was seafood jerk seafood. What do you call these? Lobster? Jerk lobster. I mean, who would have thought, only in Jamaica? Ah, amazing, at then. You can't come to Jamaica without sampling. Without sampling devon house ice, of course, of course, devon house ice, of course. I. Let me tell you I'm not an ice cream, I'm not an ice cream eater, but I had two scoops like, yes, just, oh, my god, yeah, which was it? Just, I mean, I'm speaking about it and I'm really hoping that one day, one day, they'll come up with a vegan version. Well, yes, it's not just because I am vegan or I do vegan, but milk products give me sinus problems.

AmickyCarol Akiwumi MBE: 39:50

Yeah.

Jo-Ann Richards Goffe: 39:51

It makes sense, of course, that's the one thing I miss. It's the Devon House ice cream. Really good, yeah, really good, I agree, yeah.

AmickyCarol Akiwumi MBE: 40:02

Listen, joanne, it's been wonderful. I'm sure we could go on and on and on, and I thank you so much for your time.

Jo-Ann Richards Goffe: 40:08

This interesting conversation, which I have no doubt will inspire greatly, and also I want to thank you for the work that you do and say I hope that I'll see you soon. You know, if I ever come back to Jamaica, it would be wonderful to see you in person, and if you come to the UK, same thing. But yeah, whatever happens, I'm sure we'll stay connected. Yes, and thank you also because this conversation has been. It has made me breathe, it has made me smile. Thank you so much, carol. Thank you, thank you, and I hope your leg heals very well.

AmickyCarol Akiwumi MBE: 40:49

Yeah, because that's why we couldn't meet up last time. Yeah. Anyway, all the best to your husband. Keep doing what you do, keep inspiring people, keep pushing yeah.

Jo-Ann Richards Goffe: 41:02

Human dignity is important, yeah, and what you do is important. So that's how God intended it for us to live dignified lives. Yes, yeah, so thank you, bless you, anjia. Take care. So thank you, bless you, anjia, too.

AmickyCarol Akiwumi MBE: 41:17

Take care. Thank you so much for joining me on today's episode of World Changes Podcast. I hope you're feeling as inspired as I am by today's conversation. Remember the power to create changes within each of us. If you were inspired by today's episode, don't forget to subscribe, share it with a friend and leave us a review. It really helps to spread the word and inspire even more world changers. And be sure to follow us on social media at World Changers PC, for updates, behind the scenes content and more inspiring stories. Until next time, keep exploring, keep making a difference and remember you can be a world changer.