LARRY Votava is easily a living testament to the proverb “No man is useless while he has a friend.” On a journey he probably never would have made of his own volition, Votava travelled thousands of miles from his homeland in Australia to Jamaica to fulfil the dying request of a friend.

Françoise Louise Jenaer, a cancer sufferer, wanted her ashes scattered across her favourite beach in St Mary after she passed away, and she asked Votava to complete that journey for her.

According to Votava, Jenaer, who had travelled the world during her lifetime had selected Jamaica as the place she loved the most. She especially loved the beach, where she often meditated, he said.

As a result, while she was still in the throes of a three-year battle with cancer – which she eventually lost – Jenaer made him promise to take her ashes to Jamaica and scatter them on her beach.

“She died of cancer last year May after a three-year battle,” Votava told the Sunday Observer. “We were the best of friends and neighbours in Australia, we knew each other for eleven years,” he continued in his distinctive Australian accent as he relaxed at the Jamrock Sports Bar and Grill in

New Kingston.

“I made the promise about six months before she passed away,” Votava said, a far-away look in his eyes.

He said Jenaer fell in love with Jamaica during her trips to the island, where she would spend months at a time. But the most memorable trip for her, Votava said, came when she visited the island in 2004 to participate in Caribbean Fashion Week with her Jenaer clothing line.

“She came to Jamaica about four times, but the biggest time was in 2004 when she came for Caribbean Fashion Week. Her stuff was modelled on the catwalk. She made stuff for girls and boys, and her things (designs) were inspired by Jamaican culture,” he said.

Having finally obtained the time away from work and other obligations back in Australia, Votava arrived in Jamaica last Sunday – his first visit to the island.

“I wouldn’t have come here – I don’t think – if it wasn’t for the ashes,” he confessed. “Jamaica is a little bit out of the way. I’m more into surfing and there is a little bit of surf out here. I’m going surfing in Mexico and Costa Rica next, after I scatter the ashes,” he said.

But although it has taken him almost a year to get here, Votava is intent on not only carrying out Jenaer’s final request, but on seeing something of the island while he is at it.

But before he can scatter the ashes, Votava faces one small difficulty. He does not know the name of Jenaer’s favourite beach or where on the island’s north-east coast it is located, even though she often told him about it. He recalled that, for Jenaer, the tranquility and natural beauty of the spot made it an ideal location for peaceful meditation.

“She said she loved Jamaica the best, and she had a special beach that she used to go out to. She used to love to go out there and meditate. She was really into meditation,” he told the Sunday Observer.

“She said it was near some friends in Oracabessa,” he continued. “I have to make a few phone calls. she left a few numbers. So I guess I’m on kind of a journey,” he said, adding, “I expect I’ll do the ashes over the next few days I, guess.”

But Votava isn’t too worried about losing a few days searching for Jenaer’s beach as he wants to use the opportunity to explore the island, being something of an

“explorer” himself.

“[Jamaica] has had some negative press over the years, [but] actually it seems quite peaceful here,” he said, laughing. “I’ve already met some interesting people, just people who are willing to sit down and talk, especially the people in the hospitality industry and the taxi drivers. I just spent the last hour talking to a security guard,” he said.

In the meantime, Votava is concerned that there may be some bureaucratic process involved before he is allowed to scatter the ashes. But an official at the Kingston and St Andrew Public Health Department told the Sunday Observer that Votava is free to go ahead and honour his friend’s dying wish. At most, the official said, Votava has to ensure that in scattering the ashes he does not make himself a nuisance to other people on the beach.

While in Jamaica, Votava also has the task of buying a container to carry Jenaer’s ashes because he was not allowed to take an urn through customs.

“They (Australian customs officials) didn’t allow me to use an urn because they can’t scan the metal, and people use those to carry drugs,” he told the Sunday Observer. ” So, currently, I have her wrapped up in two (Holden) plastic bags.”

Jenaer was originally from Belgium and spent time in India and Turkey, Votava said.

“She was a hippie in the sixties, and she made her way through Asia into Australia. And she travelled the world in between that,” he said.

And after this week, Jamaica will become her final home, thanks to her faithful

friend Votava.