| BY PRISCILLA GREEAR
Staff Writer
KINGSTON, Jamaica--Standing by a large room stocked with used medical and
dental equipment in “Jerusalem,” a home for abandoned and disabled
children, Garvin Augustine described his vision of a health clinic where
volunteer medical teams would come to provide needed care for the youth.
He then headed to the other side of the 12-acre property on the warm August
afternoon to a building where a small group of less disabled, older boys lives
and was having lunch. Augustine, who has served as director of Jerusalem for
three years, also pointed out buildings under construction that will house
staff members and more older, less disabled children. Augustine said the youth,
in what will be called The Village, will learn to help with animal husbandry.
Jerusalem is one of three homes for abandoned children run by Mustard Seed
Communities, a nonprofit organization whose aim is to “uplift the most
vulnerable members of society, especially the handicapped and abandoned
children and marginalized communities.”
Although Mustard Seed is an apostolate of the Catholic Church, its
ecumenical spirit has attracted support from many people and organizations
outside of Jamaica. Friends of Mustard Seed Communities, as they are called,
provide the ministry with skilled manpower, financial support and material
resources. There is an Atlanta chapter and others in Boston and New York,
Florida, Kentucky, Ireland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
While some support comes from abroad, efforts to make the ministry more
self-sufficient continue. Two fishponds, a chicken coop, a vegetable garden,
sheep and a donkey were added at Jerusalem to provide food for the various
homes and to help support the ministry.
Besides overseeing the facilities at Jerusalem, Augustine also directs My
Father’s House and Sophie’s Place, for the most severely disabled and
youngest children.
As Mustard Seed has a waiting list and no government facility serves
disabled youth, Augustine is eager to expand the youth homes in his new
position.
“One of my goals right now is to provide as much accommodation to as
many people as possible and I get a great satisfaction out of doing that,
providing food, clothing and shelter to the homeless in a place where they feel
safe and great love,” said Augustine. “When I first came here, there
were like 45 children. Now there are 95 or 100.”
Jerusalem, which opened in 1996, serves the oldest Mustard Seed youth and
young adults and can currently house up to 120 people.
At 35, the director, who has a large frame and a deep voice but a boyish,
almost shy demeanor, said his work at Mustard Seed made him want to become a
priest.
“My desire to help more and more children with disabilities, for these
are the most unwanted in our society, and to spread the message and vision of
Mustard Seed are what propelled me into deciding to become a priest -- a life
of full commitment to God through service to others.”
Born on the southernmost Caribbean island of Trinidad, Augustine worked in
banking, construction and in a drug rehabilitation center after high school.
Always desiring to serve others, he volunteered at homes for disabled children,
for street boys and at a retirement home. He decided to come to serve the poor
of Jamaica in 1996 through the encouragement of his brother, a priest with the
Missionaries of the Poor, who had also served on the island.
Augustine worked briefly with the Missionaries before being drawn to the
challenges of working with Father Gregory Ramkissoon, the founder and executive
director of Mustard Seed, which most recently opened a youth home in Haiti in
1998 and has plans underway to open another in Nicaragua. Mustard Seed has also
leased 300 acres of land in Moneague that it envisions as a final home for
children to move into when they reach adulthood.
Augustine said that all the children come from very depressed backgrounds,
as some were abandoned at hospitals or on the streets and others were left
outside the home. One girl, he recalled, was found in a garbage bag before
being brought to a government agency and later to Mustard Seed. He said many
youth are very aggressive when they arrive and that “it’s a joy to
see these children to come here and start to relax.”
The youth have become his second family. “I think God has given me a
lot of love that I have to offer and I don’t have any children of my own
and I always refer to these children as my own. I love each one of them as my
own. They will be here for life and hopefully I’ll be here for life and I
will be taking care of them.”
As he gives, he becomes grateful. “By the grace of God I wound up
here,” he said. “I’ve been here three years and I don’t
think there’s anything else I’d rather do. You look at the children
and you see the face of God. You look at the children and you realize how
fortunate you are. We can do everything for ourselves and we complain about
everything. Junior is about 16 right now -- in a wheelchair all day, every day
and he’s happy.”
As he works with Father Ramkissoon to fulfill Mustard Seed’s vision, he
said volunteers are extremely important both in terms of providing material
goods and publicizing the ministry and praying for it. Although it now grows
its own food, Mustard Seed’s biggest need, he said, still is for
nonperishable canned food, which is always in short supply.
“You (volunteers) offer us the skills and talents and resources and we
offer you the word of God made flesh,” he said.
The volunteers’ presence, as well, is a blessing to the children.
“They need attention and love more than they need facilities work.
That’s important.”
Augustine said that sinful and able-bodied people who do things like lie and
steal should pity themselves more than the innocent children.
“These children, as far as I think, are sinless. They’re happy.
They’re angels. They’re saints. I feel that there’s no need to
feel sorry for them. You have to feel sorry for yourself and understand that
they’re here to help us on the way to salvation.”
For more information on Mustard Seed Communities, visit its website at
www.mustardseed.com.
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