Our story
Jahaji began in 2020, when people from the Indo-Caribbean community came together to help during the Covid pandemic.
Who we are
Jahaji means shipmate. Under the system of Indian indenture, people carried across the oceans to the Caribbean formed jahaji bonds—relationships of kinship and mutual support among those making new lives and homes far from where their journeys began. The name connects us to that Indo-Caribbean history of journey, solidarity and belonging.
What began as a practical response to a crisis gradually revealed something more enduring.
The pandemic exposed how vulnerable people can become when households are expected to manage every difficulty alone. At the same time, our experience showed the strength of an intergenerational community: one person might have knowledge, another time, another practical skills, and another simply the ability to listen. Support did not move in only one direction. Everyone had something to contribute.
This led us to a larger question: what if that spirit of mutual support were not reserved for moments of crisis? What if it could be built into the places in which we live?
The idea of collective housing grew from that question. We do not imagine a community in which people surrender their privacy or independence. We imagine secure individual homes within a neighbourhood where residents know one another, share some spaces and resources, participate in decisions and take responsibility for the long-term wellbeing of the community.
The pandemic brought us together. Jahaji is our attempt to carry what we learned into something permanent: a community rooted in mutual care, shared responsibility and the possibility of building a different way of living.
The journey so far
Jahaji began during the first year of the Covid pandemic. Artists, teachers and students from the Indo-Caribbean community—people of different ages, experiences and stages of life—came together to help one another through an unsettling and isolating time.
Our experience of mutual support led us to ask how collective strength might address one of the most difficult challenges facing people in London: finding a secure, affordable home and a lasting sense of belonging.
The Jahaji identity and founding principles were established: secure, affordable, co-operative and sustainable. The first public home for the project was created and the search for people, knowledge and partnerships began.
We are exploring possible sites, existing buildings and partnerships across London while developing the governance and financial structure that can make the first project viable.
No homes are currently available or allocated. We are building the community and its foundations before the building.
The next chapter is to bring together future members, supporters, advisers and potential partners; establish the co-operative’s rules; and identify the right first opportunity.