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Philanthropist gives up on community
Robbed after giving unselfishly for seven years
BY KARYL WALKER, Crime/court co-ordinator walkerk@jamaicaobserver.com
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
AFTER being robbed at gunpoint by persons she suspects hail from the impoverished, crime-ridden community of Tower Hill in St Andrew, British-born social worker Moira Morgan says she is calling it a day.
As international co-ordinator of The Griffin Trust, a UK-based organisation involved in community outreach programmes in inner-city communities, Morgan has given unselfishly to the children and elderly in Tower Hill for seven years, yet has taken the decision to cease her work in the community in frustration at the "ingratitude" shown to her by the very persons she has fought 'tooth and nail' to help.
"I am leaving Tower Hill for good. If I can't trust the community, how can I stay around them?" a dejected Morgan told the Observer.
Last Tuesday as the woman slept, two masked gunmen woke her up by jabbing the nozzle of a 9mm pistol in her face. The men demanded money and began ransacking her bedroom.
The men, she said, gained entry to the house which is situated in Constant Spring Gardens, St Andrew, after trailing one of Morgan's employees. The gunmen tied up the man, who was doing his laundry, and ransacked his room before going to Morgan's room and sticking her up, the victim said.
"The man's wife had just returned from overseas and they robbed her of US$800. They also stole my laptop, documents and cellphones," Morgan said.
The gunmen, she said, left without harming her, the frightened couple or any of the six children she has taken out of Tower Hill and has been taking care of for years.
Last Friday, Morgan positively identified an Acer laptop as the one stolen, which was recovered by the Constant Spring police.
Morgan was responsible for organising a learning centre at the St Paul's Church in the community where students in the area attend to acquire further knowledge than that gained in their schools.
Morgan also gets medication for the elderly in Tower Hill and has so far trained 23 community facilitators and 20 Department of Correctional Services officers in a penal institution-based project aimed at rehabilitating criminal offenders for reintegration into society.
In addition, Morgan feeds, shelters, clothes and educates six children aged between three and 13, who are from the community. Two of the children had never seen the inside of a school until Morgan stepped in. One was nine years old at the time.
But despite giving up her life in Britain and pulling out all the stops to assist the poor people of Tower Hill and their children empower themselves, Morgan feels cheated after being robbed at gunpoint.
According to the woman, she could not have been robbed if the thieves did not get the blessing of the community.
".If you are trying get me to leave, you have done your job, I am leaving Tower Hill for good," she said
Morgan told the Observer that she fell out of favour with certain elements in the community after she hit out at persons who participated in the gang rape of a 14-year-old girl in a section of the community.
"They could tell me how many condoms they used, how many times she screamed out in the night and how many times they sent her to clean up herself, but no one knew who did it," Morgan said.
Robbed after giving unselfishly for seven years
BY KARYL WALKER, Crime/court co-ordinator walkerk@jamaicaobserver.com
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
AFTER being robbed at gunpoint by persons she suspects hail from the impoverished, crime-ridden community of Tower Hill in St Andrew, British-born social worker Moira Morgan says she is calling it a day.
As international co-ordinator of The Griffin Trust, a UK-based organisation involved in community outreach programmes in inner-city communities, Morgan has given unselfishly to the children and elderly in Tower Hill for seven years, yet has taken the decision to cease her work in the community in frustration at the "ingratitude" shown to her by the very persons she has fought 'tooth and nail' to help.
"I am leaving Tower Hill for good. If I can't trust the community, how can I stay around them?" a dejected Morgan told the Observer.
Last Tuesday as the woman slept, two masked gunmen woke her up by jabbing the nozzle of a 9mm pistol in her face. The men demanded money and began ransacking her bedroom.
The men, she said, gained entry to the house which is situated in Constant Spring Gardens, St Andrew, after trailing one of Morgan's employees. The gunmen tied up the man, who was doing his laundry, and ransacked his room before going to Morgan's room and sticking her up, the victim said.
"The man's wife had just returned from overseas and they robbed her of US$800. They also stole my laptop, documents and cellphones," Morgan said.
The gunmen, she said, left without harming her, the frightened couple or any of the six children she has taken out of Tower Hill and has been taking care of for years.
Last Friday, Morgan positively identified an Acer laptop as the one stolen, which was recovered by the Constant Spring police.
Morgan was responsible for organising a learning centre at the St Paul's Church in the community where students in the area attend to acquire further knowledge than that gained in their schools.
Morgan also gets medication for the elderly in Tower Hill and has so far trained 23 community facilitators and 20 Department of Correctional Services officers in a penal institution-based project aimed at rehabilitating criminal offenders for reintegration into society.
In addition, Morgan feeds, shelters, clothes and educates six children aged between three and 13, who are from the community. Two of the children had never seen the inside of a school until Morgan stepped in. One was nine years old at the time.
But despite giving up her life in Britain and pulling out all the stops to assist the poor people of Tower Hill and their children empower themselves, Morgan feels cheated after being robbed at gunpoint.
According to the woman, she could not have been robbed if the thieves did not get the blessing of the community.
".If you are trying get me to leave, you have done your job, I am leaving Tower Hill for good," she said
Morgan told the Observer that she fell out of favour with certain elements in the community after she hit out at persons who participated in the gang rape of a 14-year-old girl in a section of the community.
"They could tell me how many condoms they used, how many times she screamed out in the night and how many times they sent her to clean up herself, but no one knew who did it," Morgan said.
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