MONTEGO BAY, St James — Raft captain Edgar Harrison is certain that 34 years of gliding his bamboo raft down the Martha Brae River in Trelawny has helped him to achieve better in life.

Harrison, a native of the soil, was first introduced to rafting on the Martha Brae as “a young 27-year-old lad” who dreamt of making a difference in his family’s life. Born and bred in the rural community of Sherwood Content, Harrison told the Jamaica Observer that his poor background influenced him to seek additional employment opportunities as his stint as a mason was not yielding many benefits.

“As a youngster, I was living in Sherwood Content and I used to pass the guys rafting every day when I was going to work. One day one of the guys from my area told me about rafting on the Martha Brae and said that a friend of his was leaving for the States, so I could come to get his slot. I did that, did some training and I was successful. From there on I have been a raft captain,” Harrison told the Sunday Observer.

“I used to do trade work before. I was a mason, but in those days things were not booming for construction, and being a young lad, it is not like now with a lot of [opportunities], so that was not working out for me,” the raft captain said.

Harrison said it has not always been peachy working in the tourism industry, especially during the height of the novel coronavirus pandemic when the country was forced to close its borders to control the spread of the deadly virus.

He, however, credits the sector as his “self-taught college” as the ability to interact and share stories with visitors from all over the world has seemingly blessed him with the opportunity to expand his views of life outside of Jamaica.

“Like any other job, you have your good days and your bad days, but I enjoy what I do. I get to interact with the guests. It is like you are in a self-taught college and you get to go all over the world. In talking to them you learn something different every day,” he said.

“While doing this job you interact with all kinds of people from all walks of life. It helps to build your understanding and widen your scope of the different cultures across the world,” Harrison added.

In addition to those opportunities, Harrison told the Sunday Observer that the financial benefits of working as a raft captain had assisted greatly in the schooling of his three daughters.

“Sometimes to get the children going, I would only do things that my children would benefit from for their schooling. I have to give God the glory for that because all three of my children went to university, and I would say they are doing well now. And it was through rafting, sometimes the pay was very small, but I knew how to spend it to make it work,” said a proud Harrison.

“Financially, things were not always good, but I have one dream in life as a family man — I want the best for my kids and in doing so, I budgeted and made special arrangements to do what I had to do,” the raft captain said while noting that he is also a devoted Christian.

He further said that it was his faith in God that kept his passion for rafting alive at the height of the pandemic when he was forced out of a job.

“It was very rough during the pandemic because our borders were closed for about eight months and we rafters had no work during that time. Tourism is our bread and butter, so it was very challenging for us,” he explained.

Stating that “things have been picking up” since the reopening of the borders and resumption of international travel, more visitors have journeyed to the western parish seeking to relax while he guides his raft down the Martha Brae River.

He told the Sunday Observer that visitors have returned to the rafting facility to ask for his service.

“I have a lot of returning guests who come and ask for me. I don’t usually remember who they are when they come, but they always remember me and try to remind me of who they are. It is when they say some things that I pick up on who they are,” he said with a chuckle.

“When we just started back we used to be open three days per week because it was very slow. Since then we have gone back to seven days a week and things are moving quite well at the moment, and we have been doing well,” Harrison said.

Reflecting on what he described as a “fulfilling journey” in the tourism industry, the raft captain credited his grandparents for encouraging him to live a life of gratitude and love. He shared that though he grew up poor, he has always trusted his faith in God.

“I was raised in Sherwood Content with my grandparents and one thing I must say, and I am very proud of it, is that they were dedicated Christians. We were very poor, but they taught me the importance of good values and attitudes. Those stayed with me and I also instilled those values and attitudes in my children,” Harrison said.

“I think that is what made us the family that we are today. They are very proud of me and we are still very close,” he said of his three daughters.