NARRAGANSETT — The St. Thomas More Pope Pius XII Council 5295 Knights of Columbus were recently honored with an international award for their work with orphaned children and adults with disabilities at an orphanage in Jamaica.
The active Narragansett council is the first in New England to receive the award while attending the international Knights of Columbus convention in Quebec in early August. Only four councils out of 17,000 in the world receive the award per year based on different categories.
Cliff Tyler, who’s been a knight since 2016, was at the convention to represent the council and said the phone call he received with the invitation was one of the last things he expected.
“Even to this day, it’s like, did we really win this?” Tyler said. “We’re very humble servants here, and we know we do lots of great things, but it’s just hard to believe that on the national global level that we’re being recognized for this.”
Tyler explained that the orphanage and program they run is called Jacob’s Ladder. Every year for the past eight years, the Knights travel to Jamaica where they get to see the smiling faces of the 200 residents they’re helping. To date, they’ve also sent them more than $500,000 in donations and goods such as clothing, adult diapers, and other supplies.
“The way society works in Jamaica is once a person with disabilities reaches the age of maturity, which is 18, society and the government doesn’t really provide any support for them,” Tyler said. “A lot of them are dumped on the streets.”
Jacob’s Ladder is within a larger organization called Mustard Seed Communities, a faith-based organization whose mission is to serve the poorest and most vulnerable populations in the world, according to their website. Their projects and mission trips currently extend to Jamaica, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Zimbabwe and Malawi.
Tyler added that many of the younger children housed at Jacob’s Ladder are actually from Haiti instead of Jamaica.
“Because of the unrest in Haiti, there was a need to evacuate like 50 or 60 children who were in the orphanage,” Tyler said.
The facility is still a work in progress, as the council is still trying to raise funds to put in solar-powered hot water systems. They’ve raised enough for about six units, but they still need about 50 more to cover the whole facility. Tyler said each one costs $3,000.
Tyler said that he unfortunately hasn’t had the opportunity to visit Jacob’s Ladder yet, but he plans to next November.
“I will tell you, from the folks that I’ve spoken with who have been there personally, it’s a very moving experience,” he said. “They’ve been totally changed by what they’ve experienced there…One of our members went down just at the last minute like three years ago and he’s like, ‘When’s the next one?’”
Tyler said the work the Knights do when they’re down in Jamaica is a mix of work, play, and prayer. Strong bodies are often needed to to make internal and external repairs, but they always turn their attention directly to the residents. They’ll care for those who are sick, paint art projects with them, play games, watch movies, and they’ve even brought Santa Claus with them for many of their visits.
Despite the challenges, Tyler said he’s excited about the possibility of the project someday expanding its housing so they can help even more people in need. The orphanage property has 150 acres of land, most of which hasn’t been used yet. Each housing facility holds about seven or eight residents.
Tyler said his group of Knights was founded in the sixties before it fell away, and then was revived with new leadership around 2010. He estimates there are about 130 men currently in the Narragansett council.
Father Marcel Taillon, pastor of St. Thomas More Parish, praised the work of the Knights.
"The shear number of councils and work done by them around the world speaks to the incredible honor it is for our council to be honored. They give the glory to God for all they do." he said.
To learn more about their other projects and programs, visit www.popepiusxii.org.
Article reprinted with permission from The Independent.
