Salvation Army calls on corporate SVG to assist children’s home

The Salvation Army is reaching out to the corporate community for assistance with their home for children, which was opened in July this year.{{more}}

The home, located at Buccament and called The Salvation Army McAuthur Children Home, caters to children who are less fortunate, abandoned or abused.

Head of the Salvation Army Church here, Major Pierre Antoine, told SEARCHLIGHT on Wednesday that they officially began taking in children during the month of July and since then, operations have been progressing smoothly.

Presently, there are five children residing at the Home, while the Social Welfare Department continues to assess the needs of other children who may need to be placed at the home.

Antoine explained that the home can accommodate up to 16 children, but for now, they are only catering for eight.

The cost of food, clothing and other necessities for the children, as well as maintaining the building is a burden, but nevertheless, Major Antoine and his team are committed to assisting those children in need of help.

Antoine told SEARCHLIGHT that, on a monthly basis, the government provides EC$270 for each child.

“For us to accommodate more children, we need more sponsors. You know, to maintain a home, it costs a lot…”

Three of the five children residing at the Home are attending primary school, while the other two are in pre-school.

On a daily basis, Major Antoine takes the children to and from school.

A staff of two females is presently employed at the Home, with one working the day shift and the other, the night shift.

Antoine said that despite whatever challenges may come along, it is the goal of the Salvation Army to ensure that assistance is given to abused and abandoned children.

“Sometimes many of the children have been abused. The children we have now, some of them were abused. But now they are at the Home; they are happy!

“For instance, if any of the kids make trouble or do something wrong and we say ‘We’re carrying you back to your parents or your home,’ they will say ‘no’. That shows that they are happy here.

“There are some people who have children, but they are not ready. Sometimes frustration causes them to do things to their child that they are not supposed to do…” he stated.

The land on which the Home was built was donated to the Salvation Army by the government in 2003.

They had planned to commence building right away, but because of several undisclosed issues, the Major said they were unable to.

However, following a visit by head of the Salvation Army for the Caribbean region Onal Castor, who is based in Jamaica, the project got underway one year later.

“He (Castor) spent one week with us and he went to Buccament and he saw the project. When he went back to Jamaica, he took the note and he approached the Canadian team for assistance,” Antoine explained.

In January 2011, a 45-member Canadian team arrived here and completed construction of the building in one month.(AA)