1 week ago
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Vybz Kartel was moved to tears as he stood among a group of children with disabilities at the Westhaven Children’s Home in Copse, Hanover, on Thursday.
Many of the children at the privately operated institution danced and screamed his name, “Kartel, Kartel,” upon seeing the dancehall star.
Kartel, through his Adidja Palmer Foundation, visited the facility as part of his ongoing efforts to bring relief to communities affected by Hurricane Melissa.
On-site, an emotional Kartel told the operators his foundation would adopt the institution.
“When we went to the children’s home, that was a sad occasion for me. Heart-wrenching to say the least. The roof was gone, [and] the kids were basically rammed into one room. A room for like 20 kids now holds like 40, 50 kids. That was very touching for me,” Kartel told The Sunday Gleaner during an interview at the Montego Bay Convention Centre.
He said the focus of his humanitarian efforts through his foundation is on children and the elderly.
“[It’s] not just one [adoption of an institution we plan to do], we plan to [adopt] a basic school, and why [we chose] that specific children’s home, [is] because the kids are disabled, physically and mentally and in some cases both. Dem need extra help, extra attention, extra resources,” the entertainer said.
MAJOR DAMAGE
The children’s home, which sits on a hill, bore clear signs of the devastation caused by the Category 5 Hurricane Melissa, with damaged roofs, downed trees, worn walls and scarce supplies. Yet, despite it all, laughter echoed through the halls during the visit, a sign that recovery was imminent through resilience and much-needed aid, of course. The children smiled ear to ear, a few held his hands, with one ward showing her art jewellery and suggesting to cheerfully dance for the guests.
Kartel said his humanitarian effort will not be a one-off initiative. “We are in it for the long run, we nuh in it just for hurricane relief, which also will be at least a decade-long endeavour, and it will need unity from all sections of society, not just entertainers but everybody,” he said.
Noting that artistes and athletes are generally revered, he is heartened to see both groups giving back to those in need. “Big up the whole music industry, everybody weh inspire people. Everybody who’s working in front of the scene and [behind] the scenes as well because anuh everybody like push up,” Kartel said.“It’s sad, very sad, trust me, [it] brought me to tears. A one time alone me laugh, and it was a real joy when one of the girls said ‘Kartel’, but I tell you, what they’ve been through is heart-wrenching. On the spot, we took the initiative and I told TJ (manager Linton White) ‘This is the first project we’re gonna do, adopt them, long term under the foundation’.”
He told The Sunday Gleaner that his foundation had been registered since February, and in discussion with his manager, he decided to travel to Jamaica to hit the ground running. “It’s not like it was registered for this specific catastrophe. It just come at the right time or wrong time, depending on how you look at it. One thing with Jamaican people we have a resilience that is unmatched. Memba we seh ‘little but tallawah’ and we a hear that from we a youth and it build we. Big up to the people for their tenacity and courage, and now is the time for us to draw for more unity,” Kartel said.
The announcement of his foundation’s adoption of the children’s home is welcomed by staff members and volunteers at the home.
Vivienne Williams, a supervisor at Westhaven, told The Sunday Gleaner that her “head swelled” with excitement.
“I’m feeling excited, very, very excited about that and hope that will come through. To tell the truth, we are trying our best to be as comfortable as we can, because you know these children that we have, especially those [who are] autistic, [it can be difficult], they don’t deal with excitement very well, so we have to try to be very calm so that they can feel comfortable,” Williams said.
The children are all wards of the state and placed there through the government agency responsible. Williams said there are currently 90 wards at the institution, but the damage by the hurricane to the cottages required improvisation.
Plans by the Adidja Palmer Foundation are already afoot to repair the damaged infrastructure, install enhanced accessibility features, and provide educational and recreational resources to improve the quality of life for the children. They reportedly learn via books and television, with the latter, about 10 television sets, all destroyed during the hurricane. Classrooms, books and furniture have also been damaged.
The foundation has also committed to offering a generator and acquiring new televisions and ongoing financial and emotional support, ensuring that the home not only recovers but thrives.
“Well, as you can see, some of them were jumping, I didn’t even know that they know him. When I saw the girl jumping, and I said, ‘Who was that?’ and she said, ‘Vybz Kartel’, I was shocked. They watch TV a lot, and they learn from TV,” Williams said.
World Central Kitchen partnership
The lunch served on Thursday was a bit delayed because of the visit, but the wards seemingly did not mind. Kartel was on hand. His foundation provided the food on the day, partnering with World Central Kitchen (WCK) to feed 3,500 across affected parishes.
The WCK family told The Sunday Gleaner they were thrilled to collaborate with the Adidja Palmer Foundation on a major relief initiative across western Jamaica. “The foundation generously curated and donated thousands of care packages, over 2,000 cases of water, and dedicated invaluable time and effort to community aid in areas such as Bogue Heights, Belmont, Granville and Petersfield, alongside multiple additional communities in the upcoming week,” Daniella Hall, WCK’s community outreach organiser for Central Jamaica, said.
“In addition to these contributions, the foundation shared a strong interest in providing hot meals to affected communities – a mission that aligned perfectly with WCK’s expertise. Together, the WCK team prepared and distributed 3,500 hot meals. Some communities were inaccessible by road, so the WCK helicopter was utilised to ensure efficient delivery to remote areas.”
Hall praised the partnership, noting that the collaboration was well organised, highly efficient, and had a profound impact on the communities served.
Through the Adidja Palmer Foundation, Kartel emphasised he will continue spreading hope and rebuilding lives across Jamaica, one community, one home, one heart at a time in Hanover, Trelawny, St James, St Elizabeth and Westmoreland.
While on the ground, Kartel was flanked by supporters and well-wishers, including members of the church community and the deputy mayor of Montego Bay, Dwight Crawford.
Crawford openly expressed gratitude to Kartel’s foundation for the work he was doing in western Jamaica.
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