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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — In February, my wife, Kathryn, and I joined 48 people on a faith-based medical mission to Jamaica. The trip was sponsored by the Rotary Club of North Kansas City, Missouri.
“Service above Self” was the motto of the mission, which drew Christians from numerous denominations, who worked together to serve the Jamaican people.
The primary care mission, held Feb. 9-16, consisted of dentists, physicians, physician assistants, optometrists, pharmacists and non-medical volunteers, who assisted with registering patients, crowd control, and setting up.
The team flew into Montego Bay on a Saturday and went by bus to the base camp in Ocho Rios. The accommodations were simple but adequate, as they provided for basic needs. The base camp had an open- air conference hall, where meals were served, activities of the day were discussed, and the agenda for the next day was provided. Each day began with prayer, followed by breakfast.
The next morning, two buses took medical volunteers to church for Sunday worship — one went to a local Roman Catholic church and the other bus went to a Protestant church. The rest of the day was spent counting pills to be distributed at the clinics during the week.
On Monday, the team split into groups and each group went to different village. My bus ride from the base camp to the small village in the mountains was an experience I will never forget. The ride through narrow winding roads with potholes as big as bushel baskets took about two hours. When we arrived at the church, crowds were already gathered waiting patiently to see the American medical team.
The team turned local churches into day clinics for the purpose of the mission. Sheets were hung to create separate exam rooms. Church basements were converted into dental exam rooms and a pharmacy was set up. With so many people needing treatment, the security team helped keep the flow in the clinic moving.
People with numerous complaints, commonly seen in the United States in a typical primary care practice, were treated. Various aches and pains, headaches, chest pain, abdominal pain, upper respiratory tract infections, allergies, and skin rashes were the most common complaints. Some patients wanted a supply of vitamins, blood pressure and diabetic medicines, or medication for their children.
Dental complaints were mostly related to tooth pain, and tooth extraction was the only solution. Sugar cane is a common food in Jamaica, but it often results in tooth decay, so the dentists instructed people on dental hygiene.
By the end of the week, 2,200 patients were treated: 840 medical patients had 3,192 prescriptions filled; 603 dental patients had 820 teeth extracted; 513 eye patients were given 531 prescription glasses. In addition, five sewing machines were donated and 30 local women took an 18-hour class to learn how to sew, which gave them a chance to earn an income.
My wife commented at the end of the week: “Words are difficult to explain the personal and spiritual rewards which we received on this medical mission trip. Everyone demonstrated service about self. Team members were very friendly, kind and helpful to us as ‘first timers.’ The Jamaicans we served were also very appreciative of the medical attention they received.”
I believe to help those truly in need is what it means to be a Christian healthcare worker,
especially when the people you help cannot repay you monetarily. But they “paid” us with the love of Christ, which we saw in them and they, in turn, saw in us. When I combine the personal and the spiritual layers of this trip, then the rewards are many times increased.
A verse from the Gospel of Meat Fare Sunday comes to mind when I reflect on this trip: “Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me” (Mt 25: 37). Kathryn and I saw Christ when we served the poor, which made this trip a form of almsgiving, as well as a humanitarian effort to serve those less fortunate than ourselves.
After my wife and I returned to Kansas City, we wondered if other Byzantine Catholics would be interested in living out the Gospel in this way.
But is not necessary to go far from home to serve the poor; there are plenty of organizations with which one can volunteer throughout the country. One can also pick a charity or mission group and fundraise to support the cause. For instance, a youth group at a Kansas City church raised money to buy a wheelchair for a person in Jamaica. Catholic Charities may have opportunities to serve the poor in your area. What will you do?
“Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?” (Mt 25: 37).
Caption 1: Deacon Nicholas Szilagye, who is a retired physician, and his wife, Kathryn Kranack, count pills to be distributed at the makeshift clinics during their weeklong medical mission trip to Jamaica. (Photo courtesy of Deacon Nicholas Szilagye)
Caption 2: Deacon Nicholas Szilagye and his wife, Kathryn Kranack, are pictured among this large group of medical professionals and volunteers on their mission trip to Jamaica, Feb. 9-16. Deacon Szilagye is administrator of St. Luke Parish in Sugar Creek, Missouri. (Photo courtesy of Deacon Nicholas Szilagye)
Article as published in Horizons, April 15, 2018; headline changed for the e-newsletter.
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