Missionaries set to Depart for Dominican Republic - January, 2006

The Volunteers/Missionaries Committee is pleased to announce that Mrs. Ruby Banton and Ms. Marverlee Sharpe both from Jerusalem! Children's Home, have been selected to serve as missionaries in the Dominican Republic. For two years they will leave their homes, families, in other words, their comfort zones, to serve the less fortunate in another country.

After 8 challenging and rewarding years working with Mustard Seed, Hugh O'Reilly moves on. He looks at the evolvement of VISION Trust's relationship with Mustard Seed - December 2005

Dear All,

After over 5 years working full time for Mustard Seed Communities in the employment of VISION the time has come for me to move on. VISION will maintain its relationship with Mustard Seed although on a different footing - Mustard Seed will employ local people to take over the VISION initiated projects.

I would like to thank all VISION staff who have contributed to the Mustard Seed project - either directly, through the Staff Deduction scheme, or indirectly. Special thanks to Billy who visited Mustard Seed Communities in 2000, (and on a number of occasions since) saw the appalling conditions and made a heartfelt commitment to bring about improvements for the benefit of the children at Mustard Seed in particular and the inner city communities in general.

During the period of VISION's involvement, Mustard Seed has increased its caring capacity by 100% - over 380 children are now cared for in 8 different homes and two large projects are underway that will provide sheltered housing for another 400 -young adults - i.e. physically and mentally challenged children over the age of 18 who have no place else to go.

Remote Training
Again thanks to Billy's inspired idea to set up a remote training course - to teach "tips and tricks" of physiotherapy to Mustard Seed's unqualified care givers - the problem of training the care givers has been solved. Up to the year 2000 MSC children used to spend their time laid out on urine sodden pieces of foam - the only stimulation they received was at feeding time - while the 'care givers' spent their time busying themselves elsewhere. As a result the standard of basic care was very low - many children had bedsores, others had chest infections because of improper feeding; whilst the services we in the west take for granted, such as physiotherapy, occupational therapy, care from trained care givers etc. - were virtually unheard of.

The Remote training course for the care-givers has changed all this. Now in its third year the remote training course (a joint venture between Stewarts Hospital in Ireland and the University of Technology in Jamaica) provides customised training for 20 Mustard Seed care-givers on a yearly basis. No longer are the children neglected, bed sores are a thing of the past, children who couldn't feed themselves can now do so, others can now walk due to the physiotherapy treatment they have received.

The Zinc Link Internet Café Project
As regards bringing the power of the Internet to the inner-city communities, Mustard Seed has now four Zinc Link Internet cafés in operation - two more are currently under construction whilst another is planned for Gordon Town - just north of Kingston. At the moment each Zinc Link services about 150 customers per week each.

Currently a new manager with sole responsibility is being trained to take over this project and develop it to its full potential. During the past few years we have implemented some interesting projects with some partners of the project: We have also carried out some joint projects with UNESCO (including a remote training course in Desk Top Publishing with Siobhan Bradford) and received as a result some hardware to increase the earning potential of the project - including a commercial colour printer - a scanner and a fully loaded Dell server.

The Zinc Link in partnership with Mustard Seed's radio station RootsFM has joined forces with UNESCO to establish a Community Multimedia Centre (CMC) in Jamaica. UNESCO's CMC pilot project (to bring ICT to the poorest rural and urban areas of developing countries) has developed 40 CMC sites in Africa, Asia and Caribbean. UNESCO is currently reviewing a proposal submitted by RootsFM and the Zinc Link to expand the CMC project island wide.

Although struggling to make a profit at the moment (there is not much disposal income in the ghetto) the Zinc Link provides a very important educational and training service to, at the moment, about 1,000 school children per month. A specially designed computer course for inner city residents has just been submitted to the National Training Agency (Heart NTA) for approval. Once this has been approved we plan to move into the more lucrative area of certified training.

www.mustardseed.com
In 2000 - 1 VISION totally redesigned MSC's brochure web site. The new site is e-commerce enabled, solicits online donations and sells craft items produced by inner-city workers. Most recently Mustard Seed has started selling ceramic rosary beads, which are selling very well. It is also worth noting that Mustard Seed recently received a cash donation through the web site for U$500,000 (specifically to develop donated land outside Montego Bay and build a village for 200 youngsters). The photos section of the web site provides a graphical progress report on ongoing projects.

The web site has played a very important role in spreading the news about Mustard Seed not only in financial terms but also in attracting skilled volunteers to Mustard Seed.

Management at Mustard Seed
Working in the inner city can be challenging for a number of reasons - not least because of the lack of an educated workforce. Jamaica is an oral society and Mustard Seed reflects this in it's day-to-day management. Over the years Mustard Seed has adopted some of VISION's management techniques. Because it is such an oral society "conversations for action" take on a special meaning here, we have also introduced action lists which have proved to be extremely effective.

Again thank you all for your contributions to Mustard Seed over the last 5+ years. I sincerely hope that you continue your generous donations to Mustard Seed via the staff donation scheme. Your donations have meant that: - Almost 400 children now receive a standard of care comparable to that available in a first world country - Approx 1,000 school children receive on going computer experience/training that they would not otherwise receive - Mustard Seed Communities as an organisation is in a very good position in terms of ICT to face the many challenges that the future will bring, and its ability to network and generate income via the Internet have been greatly enhanced.

Kind regards, Hugh O'Reilly

Dare to Care - Celebrates 5th Anniversary - October 4, 2005
Dare to Care celebrated its 5th anniversary on September 14. We take a moment to look back at the marked changes and miracles that occurred in the last five years.

2000 We started with 14 children in one Location. A home that was …Hospice care None of the children were on Anti-retroviral drugs On average we experienced a death every two months Some of our children were withdrawn, unsettled, and antisocial

2005 We have 44 children in 2 different locations and are currently making preparations for another location to house an additional 30 children A home for thriving children, looking at a long and bright future Thirty-five of the forty-four children are on Anti-retroviral drugs We have not lost a child in the past two years Now they are joyful, energetic, outspoken

The achievements have been many and the future now looks bright. None of this could be possible without the dedicated and committed staff who gave 100% to making our home a Home and creating an environment for the children to grow. Our two constants are caregivers Charmaine Robinson and Merlene Grandison who were there at the beginning and are still here now. We salute them for their devotion and commitment to the children of Dare to Care.

The challenges were great and it wasn't always an easy task, however the undertaking was made less daunting by individuals, groups, and organizations who took the time to give, contributing to the effort to provide these children with the gift of life. We would like to extend our gratitude to all of those who have given of their time, talent, and treasure over the past 5 years.

Most importantly we thank everyone who has lifted the children, staff, and mission of Dare to Care in prayer. We praise God for His blessings on this ministry; He has brought us this far, and we trust that He will continue to guide us as we forge into the future.

Jacob's Ladder - Moneague/Walkerswood - May 27, 2005

Background:
This project is sited on 102 acres of mined-out bauxite land located about 90 kilometers north of Kingston in close proximity to the communities of Moneague and Walkerswood. The land was donated in 2004 to Mustard Seed Communities by the bauxite company, Windalco, on behalf of the Government of Jamaica.

Nature of the Project:
Over the next two years MSC plans to establish on the site a village for 400 mentally and physically disabled young adults. These young adults consist of persons who have reached the threshold age of eighteen years and, by Jamaican law, cannot be accommodated any longer at a children's Home. They will be drawn both from MSC's Homes and from several other children's Homes in Jamaica. The project also includes several income generation ventures - a vegetable farm growing peppers, scallions, pumpkins and other crops; animal husbandry, involving the establishment of a goat and sheep herd and a chicken farm; and other yet to be determined elements. These ventures perform three critical functions: they provide a source of food for the Home, a source of monetary income for the facility (since part of the output will be sold on the domestic market), and they constitute a form of occupational therapy for the more able bodied residents who will be engaged as workers in the various ventures.

Current Status of the Project:
The first ten children's cottages, each housing four residents, are about fifty percent completed and lining out of the second ten cottages has begun. In terms of infrastructure, the section of the property on which construction is currently taking place has been fenced off, and discussions on the sewage, water and electricity systems are currently underway with several government and private sector agencies.

The Blessing of the Statue of St Jude Thaddeus In our Chapel Garden - May 16, 2005

It was a particularly hot day, yet one that brought together friendships that had been forged over many decades, into one place …..Mustard Communities Jerusalem!…..for the blessing of St. Jude, the Patron Saint of Adversity and difficulty circumstances….an ongoing friend and champion of our own Mustard Seed Communities.

We continue to be grateful to Paul Cooper and his family for this special gift which was presented on May 3, 2005, in memory of his dearly departed mother Mrs. Carmen Sylvia Cooper who was particularly devoted to St. Jude

It was indeed a joyous occasion with our reflections on the life of St. Jude being led by Father Tom who brought life and clarity to that of a Saint who was devoted to Christ.

May we continue to aspire in our own lives to reflect the courage of St. Jude.

LITTLE ANGELS' LEARNING CENTRE - OUR SPORTS DAY - April 8, 2005

"Big things a gwaan"…. that's the essence of what I experienced today.

Little Angels learning Centre's Annual Sports Day… What an event! There was gaiety everywhere, colors, pom-poms, big smiles , and the Red and Blue Tee Shirts of Dixon and Cooks Houses as they vie for the coveted trophy. There is no disability only the joy of being counted in.

Claude shouts and "Matron" poses with her friend. who is not only hydrocephalic, wheelchair bound and cannot run……but is nonetheless in the thick of things. Sunshine preens as she waits for her photo to be taken. This is the day when Farm Manager takes on the job of scorekeeper…when Administrative Assistant becomes Starter and Teachers become cheer leaders with their band of enthusiastic supporters.

The question may be asked, how could so many divers persons and personality become so unified? It is simply a dream made reality when persons are joined joyously in a common cause. Here the challenged becomes unchallenged and one's illness becomes insignificant as we share in one common bond.

God continues to reign supreme, by using the most foolish of things to confound the most discerning. How else can we explain the magic of today's experience of being joined in brotherhood…a simple achievement that continues to confound world leaders and Heads of Government .

We continue to give thanks for these rare moments of insight, which can only enrich and give texture to our experience here on earth.

Zinc Link involved in Multimedia for Caribbean Communities - March 22, 2005

The Zinc Link project in partnership with RootsFM is involved in a Carribean wide initiative known as Multimedia for Caribbean Communities (www.mcclinks.com) - a UNESCO led initiative that seeks to build on traditional communication and information resources such as community radios or libraries and enhance them with modern information and communication facilities.

Project Objectives:

• to empower selected marginalized communities with access to knowledge resources, modern communication tools and training
• provide new social and economic opportunities by transforming existing community radio stations into Community Multimedia Centres
• enforce the communication and support within the Caribbean network and with similar UNESCO initiated networks around the world.

To fulfil its commitment the Zinc Link recently ran a 3 day course on Desk Top Publishing using Microsoft Publisher. The course was taught remotely by Ms S Bradford of Vision Consulting, Ireland using video conferencing equipment and Microsoft Netmeeting.

The course was attended by seven (7) students who created a newsletter during the three days. Certificates of Competence in MS Publisher will be awarded to those who have displayed extensive knowledge of the software.

The course was very successful - all students produced a newsletter and grasped the main concepts of the course despite the fact that some of the students had less then 10 hours computer experience!

We plan to run the course in other locations in the inner city in the near future.

Our photo above shows the remote trainer who can be seen on the TV screen teaching the students in the room. The computer monitor displays what the remote trainer is doing on her computer so that the students can follow by example each step that the trainer makes. The video conferencing camera is located on top of the TV and can be focused on any of the students computer monitors thus enabling the trainer to see how each student is progressing.

New Village For Physically and Intellectually Challenged Children and Adults - January 06, 2005

As Mustard Seed Communities (MSC) complement of 300+ children approach the age of 18, it is faced with the problem of their future care - as there is no state provision for these children and young adults. Thanks to a donation of 100 acres of mined out bauxite land from Alcan and a private donation of J$1,000,000 (€12,500) work has commenced on Mustard Seed's biggest project to date. The site is located about 10 miles south of Ocho Rios and will eventually provide homes for up to 300 young adults and caring staff.

Construction started at the site two weeks ago. Initially 10 units will be constructed each of which will house 4 people. Planned peripheral projects include a school, a health clinic, a computer training centre, fish ponds and an egg production unit. The main income generating project will be farming, in particular the cultivation of Scotch Bonnet peppers (very hot) used in the preparation of Jerk seasoning. A local factory has agreed to purchase all the peppers that are produced. It is planned that the first batch of 'over aged' children will be living in their new homes by Easter.

This project represents a significant milestone for Mustard Seed as it now means that Mustard Seed can provide care for children from the cradle to the grave.

Mustard Seed Communities Launches Discussion Forum - November 16, 2004

We are proud to announced the launch of our new online discussion forum.

Friends and visitors of Mustard Seed Communities are asked to share their thoughts by contributing to the discussion online.

At the end of each discussion the contributions will be collated, distilled and discussed by the management committee. We hope through these means to improve our service to the children and residents most in need.

Every two months a new topic will be posted on the site. The topic will have direct relevance to the daily operations of Mustard Seed Communities.

We are very eager to hear your ideas, and thoughts, and will actively undertake to apply them wherever valuable.

We thank you in advance for you contribution to our efforts.

To access the discuss forum, please click here.

Mustard Seed Communities Wins International Ceramics Competition - October 15, 2004

Patrick Hall, Mustard Seed Communities potter since 1995 recently won the Jury award in the international "Tea, Glorious Tea" exhibition held at the Revolution Gallery in Kingston, Jamaica.

Patrick, who was trained by Cecil Baugh, Jamaica's premiere ceramicist, had two entries in the exhibition. His piece, titled 'Hydrant' won the award for its unusual and original design.

Says Patrick, "I am happy working with Mustard Seed knowing that the profits from the sales of pottery pieces help support our children and also because I have the freedom to experiment with different glazes and clays. I hope to continue developing my skills and creativity and one day become a master potter".

Patrick's award establishes him as one of Jamaica's top ceramicists.

Hurricane Ivan Hits Hard - September 16, 2004
Words by Hugh O'Reilly

Hurricane Ivan Sunday 12th noon
In preparation for the expected hurricane Kingston shuts down at lunch time Thursday- however I can still buy supplies in down town at 3pm on Friaday afternoon. It has been raining lightly all day. A state of emergency is declared at 3pm Friday.

The wind starts blowing hard at about 6pm on Friday evening, the hurrincane is due to hit in 7 hours - i.e. 1am local time. Looking out my window at 9pm I can see that the sea is breaching the walls and spilling onto the road - little bit scary as we have had warnings of a sea swell of up to 30 feet and it is still 4 hours before the hurricane is due to hit. By this time the wind has greatly increased in strength and everyone is in doors having done what they can to minimise damage. The whole island has been without electricity since 3:30pm on Thursday. The airports have been shut down and all the planes have flown to Miami for shelter.

For the next 12 hours the winds rage un-relentlessly. It is impossible to sleep with the noise from the hurricane and the building shaking and shuddering. At about 9am Saturday morning the wind seemed to ease. I was thinking of getting a bit of shuteye when I hear Fr. Gregory pounding on my door! "Come on lets go we must check the homes" so I grab my camera and off we go. Luckily he was driving the 4x4 which has lots of ground clearance - otherwise we wouldn't have been able to go anywhere.

Once on the road we could see that the damage, although substantial, wasn't as bad as expected - the eye of the hurricane missed Kingston by 20 miles. Trees were uprooted everywhere, all low lying areas were flooded and zinc dwellings were blown away - most concrete buildings seemed to have survived.

Of all the Mustard Seed homes - Jerusalem! in Spanish town was the hardest hit. Damage was mainly caused by flooding - Jerusalem! located on 6 acres is very low lying. The village which houses the older children was under water, one of the chicken coops housing 500 birds was flattened and the two quarter acre fishpond/farms were destroyed. All the children were moved to the main home.

Heavy rain continued all day and most roads became impassable. We spent the rest of the day - till early afternoon - delivering food and water containers to Mustard Seed homes and various shelters. By 8pm in the evening the wind had died down sufficiently to have a relatively undisturbed sleep!

Looting broke out sporadically in downtown - reports are that 4 looters were shot dead.

Sunday Morning

Kingston area: early estimates put the damage atU$1 billion.

1000 shelters had been prepared across the country - 40% of there were damaged by Ivan. One of Mustard Seed's shelters was also damaged and the peo0ple had to be re evacuated.

Power will not be back on till Tuesday at the earliest.

Digicel's cellular network is still up and running and phones in the metropolitan area are working.

Reports are that 19 people have been killed and 55 - 60% of zinc dwellings have been damaged. All agricultural crops have been lost - bananas, coffee, sugar cane everything except citrus fruits.

One of the worst hit areas is in St. Anne the town of Aenon is virtually under water people are being airlifted out. The children's home Widow's Mite is in this parish - but we have been unable to contact them for a damage assessment.

The major concerns at the moment are providing non perishable food for people and restoring the supply of potable water. Restoring power to most of the island is going to take till end of October and unfortunately most of the islands water systems are dependent on electricity.

The cleaning up has begun with people everywhere chopping up the trees that are blocking the roads. It is estimated that 19,000 people have been displaced.

Remote Learning Graduation for Care Givers Training Program - April 15, 2004

The graduation ceremony for care givers who successfully completed the 12 month part-time course was held on March 30th at the University of Technology. The graduation was attended by the president of the university, the dean of the faculty of Health and Applied Sciences and the CEO of the Child Development Agency from the Ministry of Health.

From the original compliment of 20 students, 17 succeeded in graduating and one of these has already gone to Nicaragua to work as senior care giver in Mustard Seed's newly opened children's home in Managua.

There are several unique aspects to this course:

• The course is the first of its kind to provide training to experienced but poorly educated inner city care givers
• A unique partnership between a private sector organisation based in Ireland i.e. VISION, the University of Technology located in Jamaica and a training hospital, Stewart's Hospital, also in Ireland, has resulted in a custom made course for Mustard Seed's care givers
• Sharing a common desire to improve and change the existing situation all partners in the project donated their time, services and resources freely
• Interviews have already been held for the second iteration of the course, which is due to start in May.

The course is regarded by all parties concerned as being very successful.

MOU with University of Technology - March 19, 2004
On March 11th 2004, Mustard Seed Communities signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with UTech (University of Technology) outlining the way forward as regards the joint Mustard Seed UTech project which is housed on campus.

The joint project is located in a building on campus. Eight severely physically challenged children travel to the unit on a daily basis from Sophies Place where they are cared for by two Mustard Seed care givers and two volunteer students.

UTech initiated a Community Service Program several years ago in an attempt to foster a community spirit amongst the students. The program stipulates that each student must successfully complete 40 hours of community service in order to be eligible to sit for exams.

The students work in the centre as part of their Community Service Program.

The memorandum of understanding is a major step forward for Mustard Seed Communities as it facilitates the training and certification of inner city Care Givers whilst also exposing UTech students to the experience of working with the less fortunate in society.

Funding for the project has been secured from the Environment Foundation of Jamaica. A physiotherapy room and a sensory garden are planned to compliment existing facilities, which include a hydrotherapy pool. Part funding for a vehicle has also been secured.

We look forward to developing our relationship with UTech, providing a more suitable environment for the children and engaging a wider section of the population in the care of the children.

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