Jamaica shelter feeds, houses, treats needy

Elaine has trouble walking because of the pain in her hip. She can't bend over anymore. But, somehow, she has found her way into the Marie Atkins Night Shelter for the Care of Street People, located on Hanover Street in Kingston, Jamaica.

As people sit at long tables nearby, Elaine stands, rubbing her hip. "I came because I have this pain," she says. "I want to see a doctor."

But the doctor won't be coming until next week. He is a volunteer who comes only on Thursdays, and it's Friday. In the meantime, Elaine will undergo a medical assessment by healthcare personnel at the shelter to determine her physical and emotional needs. She will be given a bed to sleep in and food to eat.

Getting a meal

Shaded from the bright Jamaican sunshine by a corrugated roof, 30 people are waiting this day for breakfast. The fragrance of oatmeal fills the morning air.

In the courtyard, a thin dog sniffs for crumbs in the sand, his visible ribs revealing his lack of food. He, too, awaits a meal. At the near end of the yard, an old ambulance squats on concrete blocks, its wheels rusted, the tires long gone. Near it, two men in wheelchairs sit under a shade tree, holding brightly colored plastic cups and waiting their turn for breakfast.

They have already had medical checkups, a requirement for anyone who hopes to stay for the night. Each resident has been assigned a bed. The men's quarters are located on the ground floor of a dilapidated, two-story building at the far end of the courtyard; the women's quarters are up a flight of stairs in one large room.

Visitors

This day, American journalists have come to serve breakfast as part of a two-day pilgrimage sponsored by Food For the Poor, a Christian-based charity headquartered in Deerfield Beach, Florida.

For the past 22 years, FFP has partnered with other charities and the government of Jamaica to feed the hungry and provide shelter for the homeless. The center's director, Sister Carol Anthony, tells the visitors that the program aims to increase the self-esteem and dignity of the people it serves.

"A growing number of people become homeless in Kingston each year," she says. "There is a heightened sense of awareness among Jamaicans for the great needs of these people. Although this facility has been in operation for ten years, we continue to struggle with insufficient resources to meet those increasing needs.

"This is their home, the only one they know," she says of the homeless and hungry. "They are required to keep their sleeping areas clean and orderly. If they come to us and do not know how to maintain personal hygiene, they are taught.

"Some people come to us who are quite ill, mentally and physically; some have AIDS. We treat their illnesses as best we can. Some are able to move on into assisted living facilities. For others, getting there is a very long process."

Paint can

As the line for the breakfast of porridge shortens, more people come in from the street. One man balances a battered box on his head and carries an empty paint can, its sides and bottom caked with mint-green paint and rust.

He gets into line, puts his box on the ground and, when it is his turn, pushes the can forward. A worker empties two ladles of porridge into the rusted can.

With a wide smile on his face, the man thanks her, lifts up his box, re-balances it on his head and walks towards the gate.

Jesus is there

Robin Mahfood, FFP's president, met with the journalists in Florida before they traveled to Jamaica.

"Look for Jesus in the eyes of the poor," he told them. "Look deeply, and you will find Christ there, hungry and homeless, sick and tired."

Elaine continues to rub her hip. She doesn't want to eat breakfast today; she just wants to see a doctor.

"The pain is worse; my leg hurts," she says, adding that when it rains, she cannot walk at all. "The sun is shining today, praise the Lord!"

(Pat Pasternak recently traveled to Jamaica on a fact-finding tour paid for by Food for the Poor, Inc., a Florida-based charity that often advertises in The Evangelist. Throughout Lent, she will share what she saw while visiting programs that serve the needy. For information about FFP, visit www.foodforthepoor.org. Besides food and milk for children, Food For the Poor provides vocational skills, training, school and church repair, clinic construction, water pumps, hospitals, orphanages, educational supplies, handicapped children's homes, feeding programs, home construction, educational projects, and self-help programs.)

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