When Leonard “Sparrow” Llewellyn heard that thousands of Haitians were being deported from the Dominican Republic and living in makeshift camps along the border, he felt compelled to help his fellow man.
In 2013, a Dominican Supreme Court ruling said people born in the country between 1929 to 2010 to non-citizen parents did not qualify as citizens. The ruling left tens of thousands of Haitians who had been born and brought up in the Dominican Republic, suddenly without an official nationality. Thousands of Haitians have been deported from the Dominican Republic, leaving them without a home as they set up camps and seek shelter along the border.
The tensions between Haiti and the Dominican Republic have run deep and complicated for decades, however Llewellyn, who owns Ernie’s Barbershop in Westbury, said he doesn’t care about the issues.
“My belief is irresponsible of what the problem is, you shouldn’t ask people to leave their country,” said Llewellyn, who compares the conflict to the Syrian refugee crisis.
With such a large population of Haitian people making up his customer-base as well as the local community, Llewellyn put out a call for donations of cases of water to send to the displaced deportees. In the past six weeks, he’s gathered almost 75 cases of bottled water, which he is working to send to refugees in Haiti.
“These people need everything. And for me, water is life. Without water we can’t survive,” Llewellyn said.
The Jamaica-native has collected items in the past for people in need and said he believes people have a responsibility to help others.
“I’m always willing to reach out because the world is a small place and you never know what tomorrow will bring,” Llewellyn said. “I want people to look out for each other. What happened to you, could happen to me tomorrow. Nothing is impossible.”
Llewellyn will continue to collect water and other items to send to Haitian refugees at his barbershop, which is located at 995 Prospect Ave. For more information, call 516-997-8584.
