Tyrone Reid, Enterprise Reporter

Ramkissoon ... The children at Sophie's Place have not been eating properly since the storm and we can't get them back to normal. - Ricardo makyn/staff photographer

A heart-wrenching cry for assistance to rebuild its children's homes has come from the Mustard Seed Communities after the passage of Tropical Storm Gustav left 24 "severely disabled" children grappling with desperate, unsafe living conditions.

The community is also mourning the loss of three children who died from what is being described as trauma associated with emergency relocation exercises, carried out while Gustav was having its way with the island.

"The breeze and the whole traumatic experience of the storm frightened them immensely," Father Gregory Ramkissoon, executive director of the Mustard Seed Communities, told The Gleaner yesterday.

The three children were housed at different locations. One of the children who died lived at Sophie's Place, Gordon Town, where a two-storey building was washed away by the Hope River. The second child who died was housed at Mustard Seed's head office on Mahoe Drive and the third was accommodated at Blessed Assurance in Montego Bay.

Ramkissoon said the children housed at the community's Sophie's Place location in Gordon Town have not fully recovered from the effects of the storm.

"The children at Sophie's Place have not been eating properly since the storm and we can't get them back to normal," he said.

Ramkissoon said the current housing situation was untenable, explaining that a building located on the communities' Gordon Town property and currently being used to temporarily house the children was not designed to suit their needs. He said the structure was too small to accommodate all the children comfortably.

Not-so-good circumstances

"Right now we have them in not-so-good circumstances ... the facilities are not meant for them."

Colin Bent, administrator at Sophie's Place, said the situation was at emergency levels as he pleaded with the nation for assistance in their attempt to pick up the pieces.

"We desperately need the funds," he stressed.

Bent revealed that a civil engineer haspointed out that the building being used to temporarily house the children is not structurally sound.

Ramkissoon said 14 children from Sophie's Place will be temporarily relocated to one of Mustard Seed's 13 other locations by this weekend.

The clergyman projected that the rebuilding process would cost approximately $12 million.

The National Commercial Bank (NCB) Foundation has already answered the call. They have pledged to match contributions up to $1 million.

Corporate Jamaica

The homes have already raised $250,000 and are calling for corporate Jamaica and the general public to hear the cry of the disabled children.

"We need people to match that money fast with NCB, Ramkissoon said.

Unicomer (Jamaica) Limited, operator of furniture retailer, Courts, has also donated mat-tresses, sheets and towels to the cause.

After Mustard Seed thought the storm was over, a few days later thieves came and stole the communities' marked bus, which was used to transport the children to the hospital as well as physiotherapy sessions.

"To see somebody come and take the children's bus, that's like adding insult to injury," Ram-kissoon said.

He noted that no malice was being harboured against the thieves, but the communities would love to have the bus returned.

tyrone.reid@gleanerjm.com

Part of the damaged structure at Sophie's Place in Gordon Town, St Andrew. - Contributed

Financial donations can be lodged to NCB account number 352197823.

The homes are also badly in need of supplies, such as baby powder, sheets, towels, diapers, etc.

Persons wishing to donate can call 923-6488.