Forty-six Americans worked in Guyana, South America, under the direction of Partners
In Progress, conducting a medical clinic for 4½ days at the Bagotville Community Center with the
assistance of the church of Christ from Nismes, Guyana. One thousand six hundred sixty-one
patients were examined and treated. Nearly every patient was taught the Gospel and given
religious literature. Hundreds of Bibles were distributed. Maximum attendance at the nightly
preaching services was 354. Thirty-one people obeyed the Gospel.
A detailed account of this mission follows:
Acquisition of medical and teaching supplies began almost a year before the mission trip.
Aggressive recruitment of team members started several months prior to the project. Total cost per
person flying from Fort Smith was $1,850.
All participants on this mission project are members of churches of Christ.
Team members living near Fort Smith attended
weekly training sessions for 14 weeks prior to departure.
All available medications were presorted, counted, and prepacked in Fort Smith for dispensing to patients in Guyana.
This included printing of labels, each of which contains instructions for taking the medication, as well as various quotations from Scripture.
Supplies and medications necessary for our work were
delivered to American Airlines two days prior to our departure from Fort Smith.
Because of a
serious illness requiring hospitalization of the mother of one of our team members, he and his wife
had to cancel their trip with us less than 12 hours before departure.
On Saturday morning, 5 June, 33 members of our team arrived at the Fort Smith, Arkansas,
airport at 4:30 a.m. Twenty-eight are current members of West-Ark church of Christ, 3 are from
Roland, Oklahoma, and 2 are from Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Twenty-nine departed Fort Smith
about 6:00 a.m. and 4 people flew out at 7:00 a.m. We joined up again at Dallas-Fort Worth
airport, along with 2 women from Las Vegas, Nevada, and 1 from Dallas, Texas. At this airport
we were treated to muffins and orange juice by Doug and Dawn Winder, a missionary family who
is awaiting return to Guyana later this summer.
We departed Dallas-Fort Worth via American Airlines about 9:15 a.m. and arrived in Miami,
Florida, about 12:30 p.m. Four Christians from Mayfield, Kentucky, 1 from Mississippi, 1 from
Indiana, and 1 from Miami met us at the Miami airport. This group of 43 left on a BWIA jet about
4:30 p.m.
About 8 p.m. we landed in Port of Spain, Trinidad, where we had to proceed through the in
transit lounge and clear security again before boarding a plane which took us to Guyana. When
we began filling out immigration forms on the final flight, one of our team members discovered
that he had lost his passport. We arrived at the airport near Georgetown, Guyana, about 10 p.m.
The missing passport caused only a minor delay during processing into the country.
Plans were made to get a new passport on Monday at the American Embassy, near our hotel.
Steve DeLoach, in-country coordinator for Partners In Progress, and Ivan Persaud, director
of transportation, met our group at the airport. Luggage and supplies were collected and cleared
through customs. The luggage for 6 people did not arrive with us. We were transported to the
Pegasus Hotel in Georgetown, the capital city, where we were in our rooms by midnight.
The hotel's management hosted a reception with soft drinks for our group at 6
p.m. Supper was at 6:30, followed by a lengthy meeting with Steve DeLoach, who emphasized
the rules that are necessary for team safety and efficiency. After that meeting, we separated into
groups of Bible teachers and clinic personnel for more focused attention by the personal work and
clinic directors.
Because of a personal schedule conflict, one young lady in our group from West-Ark church had to
delay departure from Fort Smith till Sunday morning. Another woman on the team agreed to
travel with her. They arrived in Guyana Sunday night and were met at the airport by Ivan and
Hari Persaud. The missing luggage for the 6 team members was also picked up at the airport at
this time.
After a good night's sleep, we met together for breakfast at 7 a.m. on Monday, 8 June. We
were excited to discover that the missing passport was found Sunday night in a book being read
by the team member who had misplaced it.
As has been our custom over the years, we had a short devotional each morning during
breakfast. This was followed by announcements by Steve DeLoach or the team leader.
After breakfast Monday morning, we loaded our supplies and equipment onto a truck,
boarded vans, and departed the hotel about 8:00. We reached the clinic site about 8:30.
For the third year in a row, we set up our clinic in the Bagotville Community Center, where we
began seeing patients about 10:00. The clinic was an evangelistic and benevolent outreach of the
church of Christ at Nismes, the adjacent village. Many Christians from the Nismes congregation
worked at the clinic site throughout the week.
There was quite a downpour when we arrived at the clinic the first morning. It was the rainy
season, but we saw less rain than last year. We did have rain every day, but it rarely rained for
very long at a time. The temperature at the clinic was usually in the mid-80ºF range.
There wasn't much wind on Monday, but there was often a breeze the remaining days.
Josh Ketchum, a missionary intern working with Steve DeLoach for several weeks this
summer, served as a Bible teacher for our group each day. For the first time for our Guyana
projects, cell phones were carried by Michael Cole, Josh Ketchum, and Steve DeLoach,
permitting ready communication from the remote clinic site.
Having the cell phones allowed us to promptly learn on Monday morning about the release of
the remaining 8 Laotians who had been in prison for 1½ years for practicing Christianity in Laos.
A cheer went up in the clinic when this great news was announced. Many of us had been involved
from the beginning since West-Ark members, Jerry and Meg Canfield, were also arrested with the
Laotians on 30 January 1998. The other American missionary, Ken Fox, who was arrested with
them, had served with his wife on our medical mission team to Guyana in 1994. (The Americans
were released after just a few days of detention in Laos, then deported.)
A generator provided power for a few fans and for some dental equipment during the day at
our clinic site. The generator allowed us to have lights for our services in the evening. Since we
used the clinic space for our evening services (called "crusades" in Guyana), at the end of each
day we had to pack everything up and secure it in our pharmacy. The process of setting
everything back up each morning delayed when we could begin seeing patients. Once things were
set up, the medical personnel met outside the pharmacy for a prayer before seeing patients every
morning. The personal workers assembled each morning for prayer in the area of the building used for teaching.
Lunch breaks were taken at various times in mid-day, as well as other brief breaks occasionally.
Each worker brought their own food from the States for lunches at the clinic. Cokes and 7-Up were provided by Partners In Progress.
There are 8 or 10 Partners In Progress clinics scheduled for this summer in Guyana. The
clinics are not advertised in advance to anyone but the local church members. This means that
Mondays are a bit slower, which is good as it gives new team members a chance to become
accustomed to the activities and prevents thousands of patients from overrunning our efforts the
first of the week.
Supper was served daily at 5:30. On Monday we were served a pizza buffet. At breakfast
some would order a hamburger and fries in place of the supper buffet after reading the menu for
the evening meal.
We left the hotel each evening at 6:30 to return to the clinic/crusade site. We would arrive
between 6:50 and 7:00 p.m. We sang together for 30 to 45 minutes, led by men from our team
and by local Christians. Before the preaching began each evening, the youth and two women on
our team would escort the children younger than 12 years old to one of two room downstairs
where they were presented Bible lessons, puppet shows, and crafts. Each child was given a piece
of candy at the conclusion. There were 50 kids on Monday, 123 on Tuesday, 147 on Wednesday,
and 153 on Thursday night.
Roy Dunavin preached at Bagotville each evening. Simultaneously, Ted Edwards was
preaching for the church of Christ in the village of Wales, while Larry Roper was preaching for
Canal Number One. Attendance ranged from 107 to 259 at Bagotville. There were as many as
62 at Wales and 33 at Canal Number One for the evening services. Most on the team attended
the crusade at Bagotville, but a few accompanied our speakers at the other two villages.
Each morning our young people conducted vacation Bible school type classes at the public
pre-school behind our clinic site.
Returning from the evening services every night about 9:00, our team members were treated
to slices of fresh, chilled pineapple at the hotel. We paid the hotel about 36 cents (US) per person
per day for as much pineapple as we wanted. We think the pineapple in Guyana is the best in the
world. The core of Guyanese pineapple is as good to eat as the best part of the pineapples from
Hawaii, in my opinion.
On Tuesday morning we arrived at the clinic about 8:30 and promptly got set up to begin
seeing patients. It rained in the afternoon. We were able to see all waiting patients by the time
we needed to close for the day. Our last group was able to depart from the clinic about 3:30 to
return to the hotel.
The majority of our team members received lots of e-mail messages from the States this year.
The team leader sent brief daily reports to almost 200 e-mail addresses. Personal messages were
sent via Brooke DeLoach, who served as typist for our team and sent out e-mail messages for $1
each. This is such a contrast to our first year in Guyana (1991) when one had to wait a few days
just to get a long distance connection to place an operator-assisted phone call to the States. Now
we could pick up the hotel room phone and dial directly to the States if we were willing to pay the
charge. We could keep up with the latest news from Kosovo which was continuously on CNN on
the cable TV in our hotel rooms. It wasn't too many years ago that we felt cut off from the rest
of the world while we were in Guyana. We certainly appreciate the technological advances which
Guyana has made in recent years. Hopefully, "Partners In Progress" has played an important role in
improving the lives of the Guyanese people.
On Wednesday we were seeing patients by 9 a.m. Because of dizziness and weakness
unrelated to dehydration, one of our workers was sent back to the hotel in mid-morning via one
of our drivers. We often find someone in our group getting a bit dehydrated at the clinic since
most of us are unaccustomed to the climate. Developing a headache, feeling lightheaded or dizzy,
and perhaps a bit nauseated, are often the first symptoms that dehydration is starting. We
encourage everyone to drink lots and lots of water to prevent this serious problem from
incapacitating them. Dehydration can very quickly become life-threatening in the tropics.
For the past few years our supplies have included a camper toilet for our use at the clinic site.
There were several renovations at the community center since last year. We noticed that the
room we were using for our toilet was a lot darker than in the past, but didn't discover till
Wednesday that there were two doors in the room leading to 2 new toilets. The camper toilet
was put away, and we were all embarrassed that we hadn't been more astute in our observations
earlier.
We learned in years past that providing clothes to change into before baptism made the ritual
much more pleasant for the baptized when they could change back into their dry clothes. Our
supplies which we take to Guyana included towels and baptismal garments. This year for the first
time, the garments were specially made to leave in Guyana. We also take sheets and safety pins
to create an enclosed, private area for changing. A few years ago Partners In Progress began
providing a large plastic water tank, cut in half horizontally, as a baptistry at the clinic sites. (This
black tank is one that we commonly see at Guyanese houses at roof height for storing water.)
The tank is deposited near the clinic, then filled up with water from the cleanest source available.
Twice we went to baptize someone and found that the tank had been drained.
On Thursday morning we had the clinic set up and were ready to see patients in less than one
half hour. Thursday was a particularly noisy day with repairs to the lock for canal #1, adjacent to the
clinic site. The construction worker's generator, their chainsaw, the crane and other heavy
equipment added considerably to our noisy clinic. The repairs were ongoing all week, even into
the night during our evening services. Our public address system permitted the speaker to be
heard over the construction noise.
Most of the people in Guyana are immigrants from Africa and India who live in the coastal
plain. This land is below sea-level and was reclaimed from the sea by the Dutch centuries ago.
There is a series of canals to drain away the water, but windmills are not used. Locks are
manually opened at low tide and closed before high tide. Flooding is rarely a problem with this
system in Guyana, but the houses are built with living quarters on the second story.
Obviously, maintaining the dyke system in working order is imperative.
Being close to the equator, sunrise was about 5:30 a.m. and sunset about 6 p.m. Some of our
patients began arriving at our clinic site around sunup. A long line of people awaited us on our
arrival each morning about 8:30. Our "gatekeepers" would quickly go to work to maintain
control of the crowd. In Bagotville we were able to use ropes to create two lines. One line had
medical and eye patients; the other was for dental patients. Color-coded and sequentially
numbered tickets were used to allow patients to enter the system one by one.
The first "stop" for patients of all ages was the desk of a local Christian woman who destroyed the
ticket, then wrote the patient's ticket number, name and address on a form which the patient
would carry throughout the process. If the patient was a child, a parent's name was added to the
form. Also, in the upper right corner was written the type of ticket the patient presented, whether
"medical," "dentist," or "eye." Since it took ½ to 1½ hours for the clinic to be set up each
morning, there would still be a wait for the patients before they could receive treatment.
Next the patient would sit with one of our Bible teachers, who took a "spiritual history." The
patient's religious interests were determined and recorded on the patient form. At this point, the
patient was asked if s/he would be interested in a Bible study while waiting to see the doctor.
Critics of our system have voiced concern about the spiritual emphasis of our clinics. However,
no one is coerced into studying the Bible if that is not their desire. Though some patients may have
mistakenly thought that they would get preferential treatment if they participated in a study, they
were all treated with the same kindness and respect whether they studied or not. The medical
care they received was not influenced by their religious interests. We tolerate no discrimination
based on religion or race.
Most patients were eager to hear a lesson about Jesus Christ. Our Bible teachers, also called
"personal workers," are well prepared for one-on-one teaching before travelling to Guyana. Each
Bible study was tailored to the interest of the patient and would last as long as the patient asked
questions. Some Bible studies lasted 10 minutes; a few lasted over an hour. The studies were
generally very basic, with emphasis on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, as well as
our responsibility to obey Him. The Guyanese welcome straightforwardness and are not offended
by bluntness. Telling the Gospel message to the people of Guyana was found to be very refreshing
compared to the struggle we encounter when we tell the same story in the States. Our Bible
teachers were challenged by the emotional ups and downs of one study right after another. With
the room so crowded and noisy, the teachers were fearful of losing their voices after 6 to 20
studies each day. If you haven't done this sort of thing, imagine telling the same story repeatedly
all day without sounding discouraged or getting monotonous in your presentation.
After the Bible study ended, the patient would get in another line, waiting to see one of our
nurses, who would write the chief complaint(s) and record vital signs on the patient's form.
Though the Guyanese speak English, sometimes the dialect was difficult to comprehend. Many of
our patients hadn't seen a doctor since last year's clinic. There were a few patients who had
never before been to a doctor ever. Often there were many problems that a patient wanted
addressed. It was common for mothers to request cold medicines for their children, who didn't
presently have a cold.
When the nurse was finished, the patient then sat in one of three areas, specific for the care
they desired. Eye patients would be tested for their visual impairment, then eyeglasses were
provided. Some stood in line just for sunglasses. Dental patients were examined and many teeth
were pulled. We learned several years ago that to provide filling of teeth was not a good
utilization of the limited time available for care.
The clinical team members continued to encourage spiritual awareness in the patients. We
did not cease our religious efforts after the Bible teachers were finished. Every Christian worker
in the clinic invited patients to attend the crusade each evening. The medical professionals gave
each patient a copy of the tract, "God's Plan For Saving Us From Death," to carry home to read.
Patients who said they had already read it were asked to pass it on to one of their neighbors.
Because of most government workers being on strike while we were in Guyana, none of our
vans stopped to shop while returning to the hotel in Georgetown this year. A workers'
demonstration created some problems for our first two vans returning to the hotel on Thursday
afternoon, though no one was placed at risk. The problem was mostly traffic congestion. Thanks
to the cell phones, the last two vans were able to avoid the demonstration by taking a less
direct route back to the hotel. Thursday was so busy at the clinic that the last van, always filled
with medical personnel, was unable to leave till 4:30, but was still able to get to the hotel by 5
p.m.
Upon arrival at the clinic site for the evening service Thursday, a teenage boy showed us a
small boa constrictor which he had found in a tree not far away. He had put this 2' snake into a
water bottle. We were reminded that Guyana's natural wonders have potential dangers. At least
the insects were not as bad this year as last.
On Thursday evening before going to bed we had to pack for our departure. After breakfast
Friday morning, all our luggage was deposited in a room from which the hotel had removed all
the furniture. Everyone took their carry-on bags to the clinic site.
It was pouring rain so hard on Friday morning that we couldn't open the windows in the
vans. The rain stopped by the time we arrived at the clinic, where we found a huge crowd in line.
It started raining again around 9:30 a.m. Since we had to depart early on Friday, we shut down
the line at 11 a.m. and sent home those who were left. It is always discouraging to us that we
can't see everyone who comes, but there are always more than we can treat on Fridays no matter
what time we quit.
Some people came Friday just for further Bible study. Six people were baptized that
morning.
A physician saw our last patient about noon, after which we packed up all the drugs, supplies,
Bibles, and equipment. A truck with our suitcases arrived at the clinic before noon. Things had
to be sorted into what stayed in Guyana and what was to go with us to the airport. All the
medications and many other things were left in Guyana for future medical teams and other
Christian projects. Most of the 20,000 adult and children's multivitamins which we took were
distributed to patients during the week.
We arrived at the airport on Friday afternoon by 2:30. We checked in 42 personal bags and
17 totes. As we were getting on the plane, thousands of flying termites were pestering us, the
flight attendants, and the tarmac crew. Since they didn't bite, they were just annoying, especially
to the women who had to shake them out of their hair after they were on board the aircraft. The
plane took off about 5 p.m. and arrived in Trinidad an hour later.
During our three-hour layover in Trinidad, most got something to eat and sat around visiting
and unwinding in the in transit lounge. A card was purchased and passed around to sign for a
team member's eighteenth birthday on Saturday. We left Trinidad about 9:00 and half an hour
later arrived in Grenada. We were met by a hotel representative and then transported to the
Grenada Grand Beach Resort, where we stayed Friday and Saturday nights. The group's airline
tickets and departure tax money were placed in a safe deposit box near the hotel's front desk.
Most of us were in our rooms by 10:30. Several went swimming at the beach that night.
Saturday morning, most in our group went to the public market in the capital city, St. George's, about
10 minutes from the hotel by public transportation, at a cost of $1 E.C. (about 37 cents, U.S.). It
began sprinkling about 9 a.m. and was pouring for most of the late morning. Several in the group
went snorkeling early in the afternoon. Though the sun never came out, many went to the beach
by the hotel in the afternoon after the rain stopped about 3:00. We were told this was the first
time it had rained much in 5 months in Grenada. Several of the women in our group had
Caribbean-style hair braiding done on the beach. At 6:30 p.m., 29 of us left the hotel for supper at
the Brown Sugar Restaurant, where many had eaten in 1997. This restaurant has lots of local
Caribbean dishes on the menu. The food was great. We were at the restaurant long enough for
the chef to bake a small cake for the 18-year-old's birthday. We returned to our hotel around 9:30.
Most of the younger folks in our group ate pizza at the hotel.
We were up early on Sunday morning to check out of the hotel. We met for devotional and
communion service in a hotel conference room at 4:30 a.m. About 5:00 we began departing the
hotel for the airport for our flight scheduled to leave at 6:25. We had a brief layover in Trinidad to
change planes, then arrived in Miami on schedule before noon. Our layover in Miami allowed
most of us to get lunch there, as well as say "good-bye" to those flying elsewhere. Our group
returning through Dallas-Fort Worth took two different flights from Miami.
The return through
Dallas was frustrating as usual. Six in the group were bumped and put up in a hotel overnight.
American Airlines continues to fly empty seats with us to Fort Smith. They apparently
overestimate our return weight based on the weight we have when we depart Fort Smith the week
prior. We haven't yet figured out how to convince them that the majority of the weight we take to
Guyana stays there.
We are already making plans to return to Guyana next summer if the Lord is willing. All
praise, glory, and honor belongs to Jesus Christ to whom we dedicated this week of service in
Guyana. May He continue to use the talents of our 1999 mission team members to be a light to
those in darkness.
Don ABERNATHY, R.Ph.,
Jay ARNOLD,
Raina BALCH,
Sandy BERGER,
Michael BLASDEL,
Richard BULLARD,
Shirley BULLARD,
Jeannie COLE,
Michael COLE, M.D.,
Gwen CURTIS,
David DICKEY,
Brent DUNAVIN, DDS,
Joyce DUNAVIN, R.N.,
Roy DUNAVIN,
Kathy EDWARDS,
Rhiannon EDWARDS,
Ted EDWARDS,
Jane FISHER,
Bob FISHER, M.D.,
Rupa GOOTAM,
Janet GRIMES, R.N.,
Donna HANNAH,
Mitch HARPER, DDS,
Tyrel HATFIELD,
Glenda HODNETT,
Bart JONES,
Matthew JONES,
Josh KETCHUM,
Mary June LEWIS, R.N.,
Amy MASON,
Kathy MONK, R.N.,
Darrell MOSES,
Robertta MOSES,
Larry ROPER,
Mary Jo RUSSELL,
Jason STEWART,
Lori VENICE,
Tony WARD,
Debbie WHALEY,
Brenda WILSON,
Kim WILSON,
Rusty WINFREE, R.N.,
James WORD, M.D.,
Doyle WRIGHT, MT,
Judy WRIGHT, R.N.,
Steven YOUNGER, M.D.
by Michael S. Cole, M.D.
19 June 1999
Our medical team consisted of 3 family physicians, a physician pain specialist, an
ophthalmology nurse who was assisted by several people trained in eyeglass fitting, a lab
tech, a pharmacist who was assisted by an EMT, a registered nurse who assisted our 2 dentists,
and 4 other RN's, who were occasionally assisted by a couple of Bible teachers whom we trained to
take vital signs.
The number of people in line at the clinic grows each morning, but as the week
progresses we generally become more proficient at crowd control. By week's end at Bagotville,
there were hundreds of people who wanted to be treated, but who were turned away because we
just couldn't see them all.
Everyone who wanted to be seen in our clinic on Monday was allowed in before we closed
the line about 2:45 p.m. Our first of 4 vans departed for the hotel at 3:15 on Monday. The last
group arrived at the hotel at 4:30 on Monday afternoon.
On Monday, our team visited local public primary schools and
invited the children to the Nismes church building for songs and Bible lessons at 3 p.m. after
school each day.
The popularity of these classes, along with invitations to attend the evening
Bible classes, resulted in many adults bringing their children and attending the evangelistic crusade
services in the evenings.
Medical patients would be seen by one, or
sometimes two, of the doctors, then sent to our
pharmacy, where the patient forms were kept and
counted at day's end. Several patients each day required nursing care, such as dressing changes.
All services were provided totally free to people, including the medications and eyeglasses.
Bagotville, Guyana, on this trip:
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