There is a village in the mountains of central Jamaica named Chantilly. From the airport in Montego Bay, the destination is a tortuous three-hour ride in an old Toyota van for our group of nine and 18 heavy suitcases with supplies.
When we arrive, town people welcome us warmly, knowing we have returned to provide medical care. Many see only us for their health needs.
This annual spring sojourn started with Dr. Mark Carney, a Concord pediatrician, who chaperoned a St. Paul’s Church youth group 21 years ago and found children in need of health care. Every year since, he has come back to Chantilly with his wife, Jan, a dietician at Concord Hospital, several nurses, a nurse practitioner, another physician and a pharmacist.
Men, women and children from surrounding villages trek miles to be cared for. Chronic hypertension, heart failure, asthma and diabetes are common. There is cancer screening, prenatal care, birth control and an occasional infection treated. Children smile to receive their fluoride varnishes. All of them are happy to see “Dr. Mark” for their well child exams. He has watched them grow over the years.
Some days an acute problem is referred to the Public Hospital in Mandeville, the closest city.
Our medications and supplies are generously donated by the St. Paul’s and South Church congregations before our departure.
A highlight of our medical trip is staying at the home of an elderly couple, both Chantilly natives, Rue, 94, and Daphne, 90. They spent 37 years of their married life in England where they raised their family. Daphne taught school and Rue drove a city bus. With their savings, they returned to Chantilly 25 years ago to build a home, a post office and a primary school. Our temporary medical clinic is housed in part of the school.
Breakfast features Daphne’s special corn or oat porridge and coffee roasted from home-grown coffee beans. Dinner is chicken or pork from their animals, yams with gravy, cooked carrots and cabbage, and greens from their garden. Table conversation is lively, colored by the experience and wisdom of our inspiring hosts. Our showers are a light drizzle, sometimes warm and always refreshing.
We walk in the early morning as the sun rises. Dwellings along the dirt roads are humble, roofs of tin with gutters to collect rain. Dark red soil lies against lush green fields and trees. Goats and a few cows stare curiously at us as they stand amidst wild flowers behind stone walls. Dogs seem everywhere, lean and skittish. As we return to the village, lines are already forming at our make-shift clinic.
The days are full, hoping to see everyone. Many have waited hours. The women seem strong and greet us with calloused hands. Some hold babies while young siblings cling to their skirts.
On the porch in front of my exam room, grandmothers help as they were once helped. Some men are working in the sugarcane fields or harvesting bananas. Many seem absent and hardly working.
A small grade school is teeming with children in spotless uniforms, excited but polite when meeting us. At the end of the week, “Dr. Mark” presents a donation from St. Paul’s Church that allows the primary school to plan its future.
Our stay is filled with thankful voices for our care, and just for caring. As the sun sets, we retreat to the quiet hush of Rue and Daphne’s home. Around the dinner table, the poignant moments of our day are shared. We are grateful to connect with lives so different than our own, yet whose needs, concerns and joys are much the same.
(Dr. Oge Young, a retired obstetrician/gynecologist, is past president of the New Hampshire Medical Society. He lives in Concord.)