‘We do God’s work at Mustard Seed’
A community dedicated to caring for the rejected and abandoned
Published:Sunday | March 31, 2024 | 1:28 AMErica Virtue - Senior Gleaner Writer
Started in 1978 by Monsignor Gregory Ramkissoon, and surviving on the generosity of donors worldwide, the Mustard Seed Communities provides a safe haven for those rejected and abandoned by their families and society.
The non-profit organisation, which started in Jamaica as a home for children with disabilities on the outskirts of Kingston, was founded on the core mission “to build hope and well-being for our most vulnerable citizens, through Jesus’ love”.
Over 40 years later that single mustard seed has grown to now have outreach operations in Jamaica, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Malawi and Zimbabwe, providing loving and lifelong care to more than 700 children and adults with disabilities; children affected by HIV and AIDS; and young mothers in crisis.
Inspired by the healing and caring Ministry of Jesus Christ, the Mustard Seed Communities aims is to uplift and provide hope and love for the most vulnerable members of society, especially disabled and abandoned children. Which is why, without hesitation, the operators undertook a rescue mission a few weeks ago and welcomed to their community more than 70 Haitians, 59 of whom are orphans with severe disabilities.
For the first time in as long as they can remember, the residents of HaitiChildren slept in peace without fear and the endless sound of gunshots; their minds troubled, nonetheless, by their homeland being ravaged by gang violence.
The serene Jacob’s Ladder in Moneague, St Ann, is now a safe haven for the needy Haitians, who join the family of several indigent Jamaicans who are being cared for by modern-day disciples.
CARING FOR JAMAICA’S CHILDREN WITH
SPECIAL NEEDS
“We have 12 homes in Jamaica at 10 different locations,” Father Garvin Augustine, executive director of Mustard Seed International, shared with The Sunday Gleaner recently.
“We look after children with special needs, and those with HIV and AIDS. We also have a home for pregnant teens. The entire population of residents is about 450 across the island and they range from babies to people in their 60s.”
He continued, “We have been doing this for 40-odd years. And the sad reality is that the disabled persons have no other option, so they are with us from the cradle to the grave.”
Jacob’s Ladder, located in the quiet community of Haddon, is the largest of Mustard Seed’s operations.
Described as a retirement home of sorts, it also houses older residents who, once they reach a certain age, are transferred from the other homes to Jacob’s Ladder.
Their transfer creates space in the other communities to receive more of the disabled, disadvantaged, and often rejected individuals, Father Garvin explained.
According to him, Jacob’s Ladder represents 40 per cent of Jamaica’s operations and sits on several acres of land reclaimed after bauxite mining. Its story is one of resilience and long suffering, but with light and water at the end of a tunnel.
BECOMING SELF-SUFFICIENT
Jacob’s Ladder now has its own water supply in keeping with plans the operators had for the community, which included food security and sustainability.
Prior to having its own water source, which began with a tank to harvest rain water, it depended on the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) base in Moneague.
“We literally had to go to the Jamaica Defence Force Camp at Moneague every single day to get water. A truck brought it in three times a day so we could have water to cook, clean, wash, everything. And we did that for a couple years until we dug a catchment and collected rain water,” Father Garvin told The Sunday Gleaner.
“And a few years ago we put in a well so we now have steady water supply. There are so many things we can talk about with what happened over time, but we are now self-sufficient with water.”
The plan was always to become self-sufficient and independent, but this will take millions of dollars.
Father Augustine, who also directs Mustard Seed Communities’ worldwide operations, shared that it costs about US$7.5 million per annum to operate globally. The non-profit survives on generous donations from individuals, companies, organisations and governments.
The United Nations has also endorsed the charity through one of its development projects, funded by the Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme.
The 25-month project, which ran from October 2015 to November 2017, aided Jacob’s Ladder to now have water flowing in all areas of the 150-acre property, including the kitchens, bathrooms, dormitory, laundry and farms.
In its Vulnerability Reduction Assessment, the UNDP said: “The community’s vulnerability to climate change impacts had been significantly reduced after the project, with their score for resilience improving 163 per cent, moving from 1.75 (with one being the most vulnerable) to 4.6 (with five being the least vulnerable). This indicates that the group is far less vulnerable, and, therefore, more resilient to the impacts of climate change based on the measures they have implemented and their overall approach to how they farm and the types of crop they now produce.”
The J$14 million project has helped Jacob’s Ladder to become self-sufficient in providing food for the community. With the help of abled residents and contracted employees, 50 acres of the St Ann property have been put under production to, over time, cultivate banana, breadfruit, ackee, raspberry, pineapple, pepper, vegetables, among other crops.
CATERING TO THE
WELL-BEING OF RESIDENTS
Jacob’s Ladder is divided into villages with different groups within the villages. Residents are assessed based on their cognitive and physical abilities and placed in cottages that house between four and eight persons, depending on their needs.
“I think here has done a lot for the residents who have grown up with us, especially those who are psychotic, because we got some of them from Bellevue [mental hospital]. And if you think of that type of institution you think of people screaming and so on, but here they are so disciplined. They know how to behave. When they go to the chapel they know to stay quiet, and you see that transformation,” Father Garvin shared.
“They live in these little communities, and they come together for church services, concerts and so on. The whole concept has transformed their lives. I see it. I live here. I live here. I always remark that by nine o’clock in the night, you don’t hear a sound. Everybody is asleep. Over 100 people on the property and you are not hearing anything. So they really have grown and developed into decent human beings.”
While they are often treated with unkindness by the outside world, he said they deserve the same dignity and love as the rest of society, which is what the Mustard Seed Communities provide.
THE VARIOUS MUSTARD SEEDS
Mustard Seed Communities opened Blessed Assurance in 2008 in St James catering to children with severe disabilities and HIV/AIDS, as well as teenage mothers. Located on a five-acre property in the Windsor Lodge area, it serves residents in northwestern Jamaica.
My Father’s House is another of Mustard Seed’s Jamaican homes and provides for 40 children with disabilities. There are also homes in St Catherine, St Andrew and Manchester.
Founder Father Ramkissoon said Mustard Seed Communities has survived on the goodness of people of God around the world; nonetheless, he is wary of individuals who have used the name of the organisation for illicit enrichment and is urging interested donors to use Mustard Seed Communities’ official channels.
“People have used pictures of Mustard Seed signs at our head office and tried to solicit money. I am urging persons who want to contribute, especially as a result of the Haitians who are here, make contact with us at our headquarters and we will direct you. Please call us, and we will advise you what to do. We only have reputable persons working on our behalf,” Father Ramkissoon told The Sunday Gleaner.
‘CRAZY IN LOVE OF GOD’
In closing, Father Garvin declared to The Sunday Gleaner, “What we do is crazy in a beautiful way. It’s crazy in love of God. We used to joke that our founder Monsignor Gregory Ramkissoon has to be a bit crazy. But then we must be crazy to follow him.
“At Mustard Seed, what we do is God’s work. It’s always for the glory of God. If you think of the person of Jesus who we Christians follow, He was deemed crazy, out of His mind, as the scripture says. And that’s what it takes, stepping out beyond the norms of what society expects. It takes stepping out of the self-centred, self-serving desires and doing something different. So yes, sometimes we step back and say it’s madness, but it’s good madness.”
Would he change anything at all?
“No, not at all,” he said.
Persons wishing to donate can make contact with Mustard Seed Jamaica at:
Address: P.O. Box 267, Kingston 10, Jamaica, West Indies
Phone: 876-923-6488
Fax: 876-923-6000
Email: info-jamaica@mustardseed.com