Volunteer Mission Teams
In its ongoing work the mission is organized to make maximum use of volunteers coming from North America. About 25 to 30 groups travel from all over the US and Canada to support this work. The focus of these teams is either medical or construction, and often times, both. Construction teams labor on various projects. The most obvious is the ongoing hospital building. Currently the second floor is virtually completed. The second floor is home to the pediatric center. An elevator shaft was constructed by the 2007 groups and work has begun on the third floor. Other construction projects include work on school or church buildings in the surrounding bateys.
Volunteer medical teams are part of the outreach of the church and Good Sam Hospital to the poor. Simple one-day clinics are held in poor or remote areas, where basic treatment and medicines can be offered. More serious illnesses can be referred to the hospital for follow up. Sometimes this is the only medical care that will come to an area for months or even longer. Doctors, nurses and other medical specialists from the U.S. adapt to very basic working conditions, and often struggle with what they cannot do under these circumstances. Missionary nurse Kristy Engel coordinates the work of these teams, and has begun a social service program to support the most needy in the bateys.
Regardless of the work in which a team is engaged, virtually everyone served is grateful for their assistance, and receives them with kindness and Caribbean good cheer. They know that we are working as brothers and sisters—as partners—under the banner of the Haitian Missionary Baptist Church, and that our work is an extension of the church’s work.
The task before the H.M.B.C. and The Good Samaritan Hospital is gigantic. Every team of mission workers edges a step closer to fulfilling that mission! Over the next several years at least $250,000 will be needed to complete the third floor of the hospital, install an elevator, provide an adequate air handling system and a larger power supply. In addition, the hospital struggles continually to care for the poor who cannot pay for their treatment. Even with sliding scale fees, currently about 3,000 charity cases are seen each year, representing about 6% of the hospital budget. Without subsidies and contributions from visiting mission teams, this could not be done. Some mission teams provide specific funding for batey nutrition programs and local health promoters, and for batey schools and social service programs. There are also scholarship programs needing funding for college, nursing and medical school students.
Every mission volunteer and every financial contribution fits somewhere into this picture, and because there are many groups and hundreds of individuals involved, the mission flourishes. We hope that hearing this story will make you want to take some part in this wonderful work of helping others
The Rev. Shantia Wright-Gray
Mission Educator and WAYS Coordinator for
Tthe Worcester Area Mission Society, UCC
shantiawg@gmail.com
978-422-6256 home/office
508-450-2001 Cell
48 Main St.
Sterling, MA 01564
