THE jarring case of a pregnant woman who learnt her HIV status when being treated for a gunshot wound received during an attack that claimed the life of her partner, who had infected her, and who is still alive 19 years later, is one of the many “life after death” stories in the annals of religious order Missionaries of the Poor (MOP).

The child, who was not infected, is today a model university student and the apple of his mother’s eye.

The woman, the longest dweller to date at Father Richard Ho Lung’s MOP-operated The Lord’s Place in central Kingston, is one of thousands living with dreaded and terminal illnesses who have been housed at the location — one of seven facilities operated by the group in Jamaica.

The entity — which also caters to orphans, malnourished children, the elderly, and special-needs young women — opened its doors in 1994 and has been a place of refuge.

Ho Lung is of the opinion that Jamaica should have stronger laws to deal with individuals diagnosed with STIs who intentionally pass them on to others.

“It’s definitely wrong; it should not be allowed. It is outlawed that there should be people wandering and making themselves available for intimate sexual contact. It certainly should be punished,” Ho Lung said.

Jamaica at present has no clear statutory laws to punish individuals who engage in sexual intercourse knowing they are infected with sexually transmitted diseases and intentionally or recklessly infect their partner, except for Section 5(3)(e) of the Sexual Offences Act of 2009. Section 5 of the Act deals with the commission of the offence of rape by a husband of his wife if he has sexual intercourse in certain listed circumstances, and if he knows he is suffering from a sexually transmitted infection (Section 5(3)(e)). The penalty, upon a conviction, is life imprisonment or not less than 15 years.

According to attorney Margaret Macaulay, the offences of rape in the Sexual Offences Act, and the offence of causing actual or grievous bodily harm in the Offences against the Person Act, 1864 could support such charges if Jamaica’s director of public prosecutions so decides.

For MOP’s founder, the Lord’s Place has saved many lives in more than one way.

“Many who came to us, for instance I can think of a couple cases where their houses were nearly burnt down and we fetched them because there is a great stigma in the neighbourhoods wherever they are. We have had quite a few hundred people with HIV/AIDS who have stayed with us,” Ho Lung told the Jamaica Observer last week.

He said the home, which operates on very strict rules coupled with a diet of biblical teachings and care, currently houses 25 individuals with sexually transmitted infections, who are separated from the general population there.

“Also, they are not allowed to go on the streets; if they insist on going out, they are given a very stern warning. They are cared for until they pass or until they decide they want to leave. There are rules for each; they socialise, they have to keep the place tidy, there is work within their capacity, they also have prayers and they also have games,” Ho Lung said.

The MOP founder, who was at pains to point out that care is taken to separate the genders, said significantly more males with HIV/AIDS have sought refuge at The Lord’s Place.

“We have had quite a few hundred people with HIV/AIDS who have stayed with us. Quite a few of them have died. We now have a burial ground for our homeless because the May Pen Cemetery is not so good,” he told the Sunday Observer.

Last Tuesday, Brother Noel Rebamonte, the missionary who has oversight responsibility for the homes operated by MOP, told the Sunday Observer, “the system we have created keeps them from spreading the disease”.

“We teach them the word of God. They come with sick bodies and different attitudes but once they understand that the place is for them, it has given them new life. The care, the prayers, the medication have contributed to their longevity,” Rebamonte said.

He said many individuals have become so attached to the home that they prefer to spend their final days there, even when presented with alternatives.

“Even when they are very sick, some of them don’t want to go to the hospital. They say, ‘I prefer to die here, peacefully,’ ” he said.

On Monday, Jamaicans were horrified by the admission of dental assistant Kayodi Satchell that she snatched eight-year-old Danielle Rowe from Braeton Primary and Infant School in Portmore, Catherine, in June of 2023, out of frustration and bitterness, and murdered her because she had been ignored by the child’s father who reportedly infected her with HIV. Attorney for Satchell, Pierre Rogers, during a plea and mitigation address before Supreme Court Judge Justice Carolyn Tie-Powell in the Home Circuit Division of the Supreme Court in downtown Kingston last Monday, while emphasising that there was no justifiable reason for the murder of anyone, especially a child, said the act was triggered when Satchell, who was in “a stormy and unfortunate relationship” with Danielle’s father, was informed by him via a social media message which simply said, “If yuh know wah good fi yuh, yuh go test yu self fi HIV.”According to Rogers the world of the woman, who was herself pregnant, had come crashing down around her as she then lost her job, place of residence, and her unborn child “in one fell swoop”.

Satchell took Rowe to a location in St Andrew where she fed her a meal before slashing her throat. The mortally wounded child was found by a member of Jamaica Defence Force on Roosevelt Avenue in St Andrew. She succumbed to her injuries in hospital two days later on June 10.

In September this year Satchell pleaded guilty to the acts which caused widespread horror and outrage. She is to be sentenced on December 20 this year.