KINGSTON, Jamaica — If you were to visit the Riverton City dump in St Andrew on a weekday, it is possible you would find Dwayne Henry rummaging through garbage to salvage sellable items for his livelihood. But this is not your everyday waste-picker, but a self-proclaimed “lab rat” who dreams of being an accomplished scientist.

“It’s a passion for me since I was a baby to this stage. It’s a passion weh mi love so much. It’s a hobby for me, mi nuh do nothing more but make things. I am a lab rat,” the 36-year-old told Observer Online.

Henry’s latest creation is a robot suit named “JoJo”, made using flexible plastic. It is decorated with LED lights and can connect to Bluetooth to play audio. It also has a microphone feature which allows for the individual within it to communicate externally.

Jamaican inventor Dwayne Henry wearing his latest invention, a robot suit name JoJo.

Inside the suit, there are two fans which help to keep temperatures down. They operate using 3.7-volt phone batteries. Likewise, Henry said he used a 20-volt battery for the audio features.

“For the sound, ah 20-volt (battery) and the power amps ah 15-volt it fi use but mi use a 20-volt battery on it for it to work, so mi get a likkle high voltage over it so it give mi an hour or nearly hour and a half when mi a play it,” he explained.

Noting that he made JoJo from scratch, Henry said he created the robot because inventing is his passion.

“Mi is a inventor like mi mek car, truck…all kind of likkle stuff… buzzer fi mi gate…This is the latest invention and I like it so much,” Henry said, beaming with pride.

“I hustle at Riverton and earn mi likkle money, come back like every week. If mi have a $10,000, mi tek $5,000 out of the $10,000 and buy mi likkle stuff dem and put down likkle by likkle so any time mi get nuff things fi do now, mi just sit down and work again and go back a Riverton and struggle back again. So ah Riverton help me out all these years,” Henry explained.

For the making of his robot, a three-year project which he started in 2021, Henry said he had to buy most of the material.

“I didn’t take a lot from Riverton… just two likkle light and the fan and the charger dem with the battery where mi can cut down some of the likkle expenses cause it steep…nearly $100,000 alone fi spray it and body work,” he continued.

According to Henry, this is the second time he made the robot. The first, he said, was done in haste and even though it was featured in two music videos — Vybz Kartel and Sikka Rymes’ “I Can” and Third World’s “Feel Good” — he decided to take it apart and build it again. This time, the goal was to fine tune the invention and make it more aesthetically appealing for investments.

The project cost him close to $300,000, he said.

Dwayne Henry’s robot suit name JoJo

“Mi just tell myself seh is business time now. It want to earn something off this, I don’t want to sit down everyday in the hot sun, and put on this dirty clothes; although Riverton help me, I want to see if I can even take somebody off the dump and seh ‘come’,” Henry said.

With only primary level education, Henry has had to depend on his creativity and resourcefulness for his inventions. But he is confident with further education and training, he can do so much more.

“My dream — just to be in a lab stay and it’s just the work and me. Mi just born fi be a scientist and which part mi deh now, I can reach further because I have never been to a school and I would love to go to a school fi know likkle measurement cause mi know it can perfect more than this,” he said.

“People out there ah seh ‘yute mi a tell you, yuh nuh fi deh yah suh’,” he added. “Ah one time alone mi wear that suit outta road and it draw a piece a crowd, everybody a seh ‘mi wah see it back’.”

Sharing how his first robot came to fruition, Henry explained that dancehall artiste Bounty Killer invested in the project.

“Him give mi $50,000, mi hustle same way pon Riverton and people help me pon the internet same way until mi reach over $100,000 and mi finish a robot and the first video mi come inna was Kartel video,” he said. “Big up Kartel, him seh ‘I can’ and mi seh I can do it, mi always a big up dah song deh.

“I told myself that I can’t give up on my mission no matter what,” he said.

Henry wishes to see JoJo being used for entertainment and educational purposes and is calling for investment in his work and future.

“Mi would love come in a video for Jamaica or a cartoon or a movie…I want people to cooperate and try help me, invest inna dis. Something like even a likkle work off it, trust me, cause work ah the hardest thing right now,” he said.

For Henry, his greatest dream is using his inventions to uplift himself and his family from the ghetto. He hopes to collaborate with others to bring his inventions to life and make a positive impact on his community and the wider Jamaica.

“To tell you the truth, I don’t give anybody anything out there fi put down. If somebody is willing to help me with any cause with this, I will take it because you can see the situation weh mi live inna.  I want to uplift me and mi family from the ghetto so I am always trying. Many dreams out there,” he said.

His friend, Ray Dacosta, praised his work noting that he decided to help Henry because he was intrigued by his creativity and dedication.

Jamaican inventor Dwayne Henry and his friend Ray Dacosta.

“Why not help him? Mi see him deh yah a toil. He’s been doing this from corona (the COVID-19 pandemic) and mi come and see him late hours a do him likkle putty work and ah do him ting and mi get curious and start ask questions and when him explain it to me, I was very curious…I wanted to see the finish and mi nah tell no lie, I feel good I helped him. JoJo shot man,” Dacosta said.

Adding that JoJo is spray-painted in the colours of the Waterhouse community where Henry is from, Dacosta said, “JoJo represents where him come from and who him is. He’s very creative.”