Background - Intro

Mustard Seed Communities
     

Mustard Seed Communities

History of MSC

Mustard Seed Communities (MSC) is a non-profit, community development organization that was started in 1978 in Kingston, Jamaica by Father Gregory Ramkissoon, a Roman Catholic clergyman. The objective was enriching and empowering the spiritually, psychologically and financially poor who live in urban communities. MSC assists them in leaving the cycles of frustration and hopelessness which dominate their lives, through strategies that revolve around the concepts of Caring, Sharing and Training.

There are now eighteen Caring Apostolates of MSC, established or under construction. These are located in various parishes in Jamaica, as well as in the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Zimbabwe. These Apostolates care for abandoned, disabled children, homeless pregnant teenagers, and young adults and babies afflicted with HIV/AIDS.

MSC also maintains several income generating businesses that provide entrepreneurial training and skills development. These businesses include:

-greeting-card manufacturing
-a bakery
-a printery
-ROOTS FM, a community radio station
-a ceramics manufacturing unit
-two half-acre ponds that cycle 10,000 fresh-water fish twice annually
-four cyber cafe units serving inner city communities
-a distance teaching programme
-a 1,200 eggs-per-day chicken farm
-thrift shops for used clothing, books and children's toys
-sheep rearing
-an ornamental plant nursery
-missionary training
-a project involving research and development in childhood disabilitiesx in association with the University of Technology, Jamaica