MEDICAL MISSION FINDS STRONG FAITH IN JAMAICA

Suitcases, once filled with medical supplies, sit in a classroom at Evangelical United Church of Christ, waiting for someone to come and retrieve them.

During the past two weeks, members of the Cape Gir-ardeau church have been sorting through the pictures and memories they brought back from a medical mission trip to Jamaica.

Every two years, the church has organized a mission trip to Carron Hall, Jamaica. It was the second trip for about six of the 35 members in the group, who represented 17 different churches.

And while the work was the same seeing and treating patients -- on both trips, the second was much different for Dorinda Abbott. On the first trip you are so overwhelmed by the needs and seeing how the people live, she said.

During the weeklong stay, Abbott realized how strong the Jamaicans are in their faith and how hard they must work to overcome troubles.

"It's such a stark contrast between our two faiths," she said. "It's just hard to put it into words. They've got so little and they're happy and here we've got everything and still aren't happy." Many of the Jamaican people who visited the medical, eye and dentistry clinics wouldn't have been able to afford medicines or doctor visits at all. Some hadn't seen a doctor since the group was there two years ago.

For the Carron Hall community, the closest medical clinic is a half-hour's drive away. Patients lined up early each morning to be seen by the medical team. Abbott said she frequently awoke to the sound of a horn from the taxis that carried patients to and from the clinic site.

Most of the medical problems in the patients were related to diabetes, poor diet and high blood pressure.

Steve Botwinski, a pharmacist at Southeast Missouri Hospital, helped collect the donated medicines, which had a market value of $300,000. "We tried to give a year's supply of the medicines," he said.

Gwen Maloney, an intensive care nurse at Southeast, also went on the trip. She and Abbott came back with a plan to help collect medical supplies throughout the year and send them to Carron Hall whenever possible.