This is the first article in a two-part series. Look for more information on visits to Poor Relief of Kingston and the Golden Age Home in the Nov. 10 issue of Today’s Catholic.

    KINGSTON, Jamaica • For centuries the Catholic Church has been sending forth missionaries into the poor countries of the world. The church continues that tradition to this day, as does a ministry named Food For the Poor (FFP).
    Recently, a group of nine pilgrims from the St. Paul Newman Center at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, Wy., as well as the editor of Today’s Catholic newspaper, traveled to Kingston, Jamaica for four days to observe the work of the Deerfield Beach, Fla., based relief organization, which operates offices in the United States, Jamaica, Haiti and Guyana. The group counts more than two million donors.

    The first stop for the group was a visit to the Lakes Pen Agricultural Area in Spanish Town. A small farm was yielding crops of sorrel, squash, okra, zucchini, cucumbers, cow peas, cantaloupe and sweet corn. Lakes Pen is part of the Rural Economic Agricultural Program (REAP). About 9,000 people in the urban areas and 90,000 in the rural areas benefit from REAP.

    The next destination, Barbara’s Village, was born through one donor’s dream of changing the lives of the impoverished in Jamaica. Through dedicated efforts, waitress Barbara Gilbert raised funds to build 25 FFP housing units. The Sugar Company of Jamaica donated the land to the housing recipients. An adjacent development, Phoenix Park, was built in an area where former slums housed local sugar cane workers. The Sugar Cane Company deeded the land, which enabled FFP to construct the current housing. This was also the first community in FFP’s history to include a separate room to serve as a kitchen.

    The Promise Library there was built with donations from the Homestead High School Student Government of Fort Wayne, Ind. The effort began with a student pilgrimage to help the poor of Jamaica. Together with others from their high school, the students raised funds collected over 20,000 books to fill the building.

    More than 21 years ago, FFP first opened its doors to minister to the poor of Jamaica. Over the years it has grown to meet the needs of the people of Jamaica as they struggle to survive in an increasingly desolate economy.

    Their office facility is ideally located on a highway that connects to roads leading all across the island. It is composed of two 40,000 square-foot warehouses that contain the offices, the food warehouse — with a maximum capacity of 140 20-foot containers — and the distribution warehouse.
FFP-Jamaica employs 65 staff members, 100 building contractors and up to 100 casual workers. This small army is responsible for the distribution of food, medical supplies, school supplies and furnishings throughout the island; for building houses for the destitute; and for implementing life-changing projects.

    The group partners with more than 5,000 churches, schools, orphanages and service organizations throughout the island to meet the needs of the poorest of the poor. Needed items are either delivered to various distribution sites or the organizations come directly to FFP to pick up their supplies.

    Located behind the FFP warehouse in Spanish Town is a poverty-stricken community marked by rusty tin fences and crumbling shacks. Ellerslie Pen is a desperate community with overwhelming needs. Most houses are shacks with plastic, magazines and newspapers stuck to the walls to plug holes created by rotting wood. Most children do not have shoes, and an open channel of mud and sewage runs through the center of the neighborhood.

    FFP is dedicated to serving the poorest of the poor in Ellerslie, a community where disease, hunger, unemployment and suffering are a way of life. In a redevelopment project designed to uplift Ellerslie Pen, the FFP Social Outreach director will identify the worst homes and, after verifying the lots are owned by the resident, they will be replaced by 12-foot by 12-foot wooden houses with cement floors and tin roofs. Depending on the size of the family, the shack will either be replaced with a single housing unit or two will be attached to create a double home.

    To complete this neighborhood revitalization, the existing infrastructure will be improved and the community’s substandard sanitation facilities will be replaced. Additionally, to add some light to the lives of the children, FFP will upgrade recreational facilities at the Ellerslie Pen Basic School.

    Also in Spanish Town, Mustard Seed Communities is a non-profit community development organization founded in 1978 by Father Gregory Ramkissoon. It started as a small home on the outskirts of Kingston for Jamaica’s most unwanted and rejected children — the physically and mentally disabled. At present, Mustard Seed operates several homes in Jamaica devoted to the care of these helpless children.

    In 1996, Mustard Seed opened Jerusalem! Children’s Home in Spanish Town. Presently, the facility is home to 135 residents ranging in age from infants to young adults. The community contains three individual residences: Jerusalem Children’s Home, which ministers to the needs of severely mentally and physically challenges children; Jerusalem Village, a home for mentally challenges young adults that are not able to function in society; and Dare to Care, a home for children living with HIV/AIDS.
    Additionally, the facility houses a farm, a school and a clinic, which is open to residents outside of the center.

    The staff adheres to the Jerusalem! creed of caring, training and sharing. Construction workers, farm workers, maintenance and security staff, administration, and cooks all work along with the caregivers at Jerusalem! offering the residents a variety of experiences. Daily activities include spiritual exercises, physiotherapy, cognitive learning, occupational exercises, chores and internal and external training programs.

    In the center of Kingston, the devastating result of poverty is evidenced by the number of people living on the streets. Many are elderly and mentally challenged individuals who have outlived their families or have been abandoned as they become difficult to handle or impossible to feed. They beg for food and are often seen eating from garbage; they sleep on doorsteps and in tin or cardboard shacks.

    The Salvation Army has been feeding the street people in the downtown area since the 1960’s. Motivated by the work of this institution, FFP joined forces with the Salvation Army in 1989 to increase their feeding capacity. They were also able to provide the Salvation Army with a van to bring food to those with the greatest need. More than 500 evening meals are delivered five days a week.

     The Salvation Army Feeding Program in Kingston has a budget of $2,300 per month, which provides youngsters, adults and the elderly with their only nourishment of the day. Those funds also cover such items as food, salaries, utilities and other costs.

    As the van drives from one stop to another, one can witness droves of people lining up to get their only meal of the day. The route is finalized when the van drives through neighborhoods delivering food to people who are too old or infirm to get to the distribution sites.