Three months after close collaboration between HaitiChildren and Mustard Seed Communities resulted in 59 disabled Haitian orphans being rescued from that violence-torn Caribbean nation and brought to Jamaica, a rift has developed between both entities over allegations about the care being given to the children.

Based on an agreement with the Government of Jamaica, accommodation was made available for the children, many with severe illnesses, at Mustard Seed’s Jacob’s Ladder home in St Ann.

However, Susan Krabacher, chief executive officer and founder of HaitiChildren, told the Jamaica Observer in an exclusive interview that she does not want to have anything to do with Mustard Seed anymore and called on the Government for assistance.

“We just need the Government to help move our children away from Mustard Seed. We would like never to have anything to do with Mustard Seed anymore. All I want is for our children to leave safely. We’ll never bother them again. I would like the Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA) to give me an operational licence and we could rent a beautiful facility,” Krabacher, the orphans’ legal guardian, said.

Krabacher and another member of her organisation, Sheryl Ritchie, claimed that upon arrival in Jamaica in March, HaitiChildren had to pay US$100,000 for the care of the orphans.

Susan Krabacher, chief executive officer and founder of HaitiChildren, speaking with the Jamaica Observer
in March when 59 children from her orphanage in Haiti arrived at Errol Flynn Marina in Port Antonio, Portland.
(Photos: Naphtali Junior)

Krabacher said she recently told the management of Mustard Seed that they wouldn’t be getting any more money until they could give account of how the US$100,000 has been spent so far.

She also alleged that her organisation has been giving Mustard Seed prescriptions for medication for the children but she wasn’t sure if the children were getting the medication.

However, Mustard Seed Executive Director Father Garvin Augustine denied that the charity took any money from HaitiChildren.

“We have over 450 children across Jamaica in homes. In terms of charging, we don’t charge and have never charged,” Father Augustine said.

“We have no problem caring for the children who were fleeing a devastating situation. If the organisation requests the children back, then fine, but whilst they are under our charge, we will care for the children,” Father Augustine said.

Ritchie, who is the administrative director of HaitiChildren, also claimed that many of the disabled boys and girls require specialised care at hospital and on numerous occasions Mustard Seed had prevented HaitiChildren from assisting in the process and refused to release the children who need emergency medical attention.

“When I first visited the children two months ago at Mustard Seed I found them to be in desperate need of medical help. I was of the impression that Mustard Seed had their own doctors and they were all being well treated and that everything was okay. The caregivers and nurses on site are reporting that some of the children needed to be hospitalised. Some were dehydrated. We have had thousands of dollars of medication prescribed through our private doctors and I don’t think the children were getting the medication that we thought were being provided under Mustard Seed, and we thought they were handling everything. We found the children to be in critical need of medication and specialists,” Ritchie said.

Krabacher interjected, saying that Mustard Seed founder Monsignor Gregory Ramkissoon is a good man, but she doesn’t think he knows what is happening at Jacob’s Ladder.

“We took the children to Jamaica and we are willing and ready to pay for all accessible medical care for our children and yet Mustard Seed would like to have the money sent directly to them and I will not do that. I will pay the doctors and buy medicine directly but they are saying it is against protocol and we have to follow their rules. They say we cannot come into their country and tell them what to do,” she alleged.

However, Father Augustine described the claims that the children are not being properly cared for as absurd.

“The children are being cared for with the same level of love and care we give to all our children across the island,” he told the Sunday Observer.

“Mustard Seed is governed by the CPFSA and all our homes are governed by that. The children from Haiti came here on the approval of the Jamaican Government. They have to abide by the same rules, guidelines, and regulations, so we deal with these children as we deal with the regular children from Jamaica,” he added.

On the day the Haitian orphans arrived by sea at Errol Flynn Marina in Port Antiono, Krabacher said she was grateful to all stakeholders for making the voyage a reality. She singled out Mustard Seed and the Jamaican Government for agreeing to accept and accommodate the children and revealed that she spent 14 months trying to finalise the release of the children from Haiti.

The rescue mission, described as “delicate”, was conducted by Mustard Seed, HaitiChildren, and the Jamaican Government, with significant assistance from former United States Ambassador to Jamaica Luis Moreno; Jamaica’s former Chief of Defence Staff Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin; and Sentinel Foundation, a non-profit organisation in North Carolina, United States, that targets child traffickers, protects children, and provides crisis response.