Haitian children get medical help from Indian High Commission
Published:Monday | April 29, 2024 | 12:08 AMCarl Gilchrist/Gleaner Writer
Indian High Commissioner to Jamaica Masakui Rungsung says a medical camp held earlier this month at the Mustard Seed Communities’ Jacob’s Ladder in Haddon, St Ann, was the least his office could do to help the plight of Haitian children with disabilities who arrived in Jamaica in March.
The 59 Haitian children and 13 caregivers arrived by boat as they fled the unrest in Haiti and were taken to the facility a month ago.
Rungsung said the medical camp, which was supported by Indian doctors, other medical personnel and Indian pharmaceutical companies, was the 32nd such camp since the initiative began in January 2021 and has served more than 10,000 persons since then.
After serving a Mustard Seed Communities facility in Spanish Town, St Catherine, last year, the high commissioner decided to assist another, especially as the Haitian children were really in need.
“It’s the least that we could do to reach out to the community, so we organised this medical camp in this Mustard Seed in this area,” Rungsung told the media.
“So, we’re happy that this has happened; it’s the least thing that we could do; we’re very happy that people have benefited. From 2021 January until today we have served at least 10,000 patients in this kind of medical camp. We’re very happy,” he added.
Administrator at Jacob’s Ladder, Father Ernest Chikwata, was happy for the intervention led by the high commissioner, especially in light of the addition of the Haitians to the residency.
“This is something we’ve been longing for, for the past one month since the children came from Haiti. Because when they came in, they were coming from a situation that was not so good, so they were not able to bring some of their stuff; for example, they were not able to bring their medical history,” Chikwata explained.
He said, too: “So, something that’s very important to us as Mustard Seeds, custodian of these children, we need to have a medical history so we’ll know how to deal with them, what kind of medication to give them, because they all have different medical conditions. So this is really something good that the Indian High Commission has done for us and we greatly appreciate it, and we hope to work with them more in the future.”
The team of medics included doctors, dentists, opticians, nurses and volunteer students from Campion College.