Care of 59 Haitian orphans won't burden Jamaican taxpayers - Mustard Seed

 

Executive Director of Mustard Seeds International, Father Garvin Augustine, says the cost to care for the 59 Haitian orphans who arrived in Jamaica late last month, will not be a burden to taxpayers.

 

This comes in the wake of questions raised in the public domain about whether the Jamaican government will offset the cost of providing care to the children.  

 

Father Augustine, who was a guest Tuesday morning on TVJ's Smile Jamaica, said private charity HaitiChildren will continue to fund the care of the orphans.

 

At the same time, Father Augustine said some Jamaicans and corporate entities have been donating to the children who fled their violence-torn country. 

 

"We continue to seek and ask people to get in touch with our head office and you can give whatever you can. You know, it could be a roll of toilet paper. You know, we need everything from wheelchairs to toothbrushes," he noted. 

 

Father Augustine also provided an update on the children, saying they have been adjusting well to their new home.

 

However, he explained that the facility where the children are being housed is overcrowded and there are plans to relocate some of them. 

 

"The area where they are wasn't built for 59 children. So we have to figure out how we move them around, how we integrate them into our different homes if possible. But the initial arrangement, by the way, is for a temporary stay - temporary meaning, if things get better in Haiti...they will go back to Haiti. But the arrangement is for a two to three-year period," Father Augustine revealed.