By Dan Sullivan
Catholic Herald
God's call led to woman's 28-year ministry in Jamaica
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Sr Susan Frazer, RSM, (center) spent much of her childhood in Superior. For the past 28 years she has been assigned to Jamaica, where she currently runs two homes for orphaned or troubled boys. She is pictured with her parents Vivain (left) and Raymond Frazer (right). (Catholic Herald photo by Dan Sullivan) |
SUPERIOR -- It was in 1971 that Sr. Susan Frazer, a Religious Sister of Mercy, received her first assignment in Jamaica. Jobs in other places followed, but after a few years away from Jamaica, Frazer received a silent calling to return to this island nation in the Caribbean.
"It wasn't just (a call) to return, but to ask to go to a specific place in Jamaica," Frazer said.
She was soon given her assignment to St. John Bosco Boys Home in Mandeville -- the same place received in the message through prayer. That was 28 years ago and she has been there ever since.
Last month Frazer returned to Superior to visit her parents, Raymond and Vivian Frazer, parishioners of Cathedral of Christ the King in Superior.
Besides being in charge of St. John Bosco Boys Home, seven years ago Frazer also became director of Alpha Boys School in Kingston. Each facility is home to 150 boys. They each operate a full education program, including a host of trade school choices.
Frazer described the homes as orphanages or court ordered placements for children who have been in difficult situations. "Some of (the boys) have been abandoned, abused or have been involved in crimes," Frazer said.
Because of the lagging economy in this country, crime is a problem and contributes to the schools' rising enrollment. "The poverty is getting worse, and as the poverty gets worse, the crime gets worse," Frazer said.
Speaking about the condition of the country her daughter works in, Vivian Frazer described the mix of rich and poor. "You see the beautiful big mansion on the hill and then people in tin shacks living down below. She has done so much from the time we first visited. (The home) was very primitive the first time we went there."
Even with the high crime rate, Frazer isn't frightened. "I am one of those people who are very practical about things," she said.
"If I start believing there is a shadow behind every corner it's time to come home. I'm not stupid about it; I don't go into areas I shouldn't go into. There are areas in every town, that if you look to meet trouble, you're going to find it."
Over her years in Jamaica, Frazer said, she has gained acceptance by many of the native people, "but I will always be a foreigner in a foreign land."
The government of Jamaica does give the institution a monthly allowance for each child; however, it doesn't cover the actual expenses.
Additional income is generated through the home's "self-help" programs and projects which include: the butcher training and retail store, catering department, dish rental project, the piggery project and a sponsorship program.
Another source of income is donations. Frazer said her cousin, Fr. Tom Poisson, a retired priest of the Diocese of Marquette, Mich., serves as an exemplary supporter.
"All the churches he has been in, in the Upper Peninsula, have since sponsored St. John Bosco," Frazer said. "I used to tell him that his job was to move from parish to parish, because every parish he has been at supports us."
According to information provided on St. John Bosco's Web site, one of the success stories of the home is a man named Newton Coote.
"Newton came to John Bosco when he was nine years old. Several years earlier, his father had tied his hands with a cloth and doused them with kerosene and lit them (on fire). Under the care and guidance of (Frazer) and many of the sisters, Newton has become one of the many success stories of St. John Bosco."
Coote currently serves as the manager of the catering department at the home, "but also has his finger on the pulse of everything that goes on here at Bosco. He prepares accommodations and meals for our visitors, and continues to grow and learn," the site said.
Editor's note: More information about St. John Bosco Boys Home can be found at http://boscohome.tripod.com. or via e-mail to Frazer at suefrsm@msn.com.
Donations for either home can be sent to Sr. Susan Frazer, RSM, St. John Bosco Boys Home, P.O. Box 1692, Mandeville, Jamaica
© Superior Catholic Herald, 2004