JN, St John continue post-Melissa relief in remote communities
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Ramon Smith, a JN volunteer, carries relief packages for residents of Harmony Hall. The JN Foundation with funding from Corus International, an ensemble of faith-based organisations, organised a mission to the community to provide residents, slowly recovering from Hurricane Melissa, with medical care and relief packages.
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Damaged pimento trees, one of the main crops, in Harmony Hall, St Elizabeth, are springing back to life following Hurricane Melissa. The growth mirrors the slow, but progressive recovery of the community, which remains without electricity and other basic needs. The JN Foundation in collaboration with St John Ambulance Jamaica visited the community recently to provide medical relief and care packages as part of its overall effort to support remote communities still in need of help to recover from Hurricane Melissa.
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A medical doctor from St John Ambulance Jamaica sees a resident of Harmony Hall, St Elizabeth, during a recent visit to the remote community. The mission was organised by the JN Foundation with funding from Corus International, an ensemble of faith-based organisations, to provide residents in the remote district with medical care. The community, slowly recovering from Hurricane Melissa, is still without electricity and remains in need of basic services.
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Residents of Harmony Hall, St Elizabeth, patiently gather under a tarpaulin at the entrance of the Shiloh Apostolic Church in Harmony Hall, St Elizabeth, awaiting medical checkups by St John Ambulance Jamaica. The team of medical volunteers was brought to the community by the JN Foundation to serve residents who are still slowly recovering from Hurricane Melissa.
For JN Foundation and St John Ambulance Jamaica, ongoing visits to Hurricane Melissa-battered communities in western Jamaica have reinforced a sense of resolve rather than fatigue. With the next hurricane season only three months away, persistent needs in remote areas have deepened their commitment to continue serving vulnerable populations.
Some of the mainly small farming communities remain without basic amenities, which in some cases, are challenges that existed before the storm. Harmony Hall, nestled between Maggotty and the Maroon town of Accompong in northern St Elizabeth, is one of those communities. Although budding leaves on pimento trees hint at recovery and resilience, the absence of electricity, limited water supply, and distant health services leave residents highly exposed to future climatic shocks like Hurricane Melissa.
Home to about 200 people, the hillside community was visited in March by the JN Foundation and its partner, St John Ambulance Jamaica. For many residents, the Shiloh Apostolic Church has become a central refuge. Despite damage to its roof, the church has remained open, offering not only spiritual guidance but also practical support to the community.
COMMUNITY OUTREACH
“We try to generate an environment where we give back to the community,” explained lead minister and obstetrician-gynaecologist, Dr Rodean Wallace.
A native of the community, Wallace now lives in St Ann and practises in Falmouth, Trelawny, but continues to oversee the 25-plus congregation following the passing of its two previous pastors.
“It’s not just to cater to the spiritual needs, but the whole man, which has different aspects- physical, spiritual, emotional. So, the [aim] is to have a balanced approach to spiritual life and to let them know that apart from being spiritual, your health and all these things are needed,” Dr Wallace underscored.
Blue tarpaulins where roofs once were, farms destroyed, and no electricity, tell the story of livelihoods disrupted in Harmony Hall. With limited assistance, residents have been rebuilding slowly, Wallace said.
“Yams, bananas everything is flat. We are all in the mode of rebuilding, replanting, redeveloping, so the whole starting over that’s what we (the church) are here for and having Jamaica National coming in, it’s really a good initiative to show the people that persons care,” he said.
The communities chosen for intervention by the JN Foundation are based their ongoing needs since the passage of Hurricane Melissa, including their access or the return of access to basic amenities. Through his brother and a friend, Dr Wallace was able to outline the community’s needs to the foundation.
BENEFICIARY
Among those who benefited from the outreach was 83-year-old George Williams. Although being treated for hypertension since Hurricane Melissa, the elderly man has been experiencing headaches, dizziness and swelling in his feet. With the nearest health centre in Magotty, about 10 miles away, he was grateful for the services brought by JN Foundation, St John Ambulance and the church.
Health issues aside, he remains in good spirits and focused on rebuilding with whatever little help he can get.
“Is one side of my house Melissa left. All now the tarpaulin don’t put on yet,” he revealed, explaining that half the structure was destroyed along with his farm. He is currently living with his brother.
Experiencing ailments since the hurricane, Judene Beckford also made the journey to seek care, travelling from Bethsalem about five miles away with her two young children. Since the hurricane, she has been dealing with persistent back and shoulder pains, as well as a skin condition. Unable to see her usual doctor in Santa Cruz or attend the Magotty clinic, she welcomed the opportunity for treatment.
A self-employed entrepreneur, Beckford lost both her shop and home in Lacovia during the storm, which resulted in her relocation to Bethsalem. Her grandmother, who she cares for, also experienced severe damage to her home.
“Right now, my house has no roof,” she related in a broken voice. “And my grandmother house, it has no roof either. Not even tarpaulin on it right now and everything virtually destroyed. I have to go dump everything.”
At the end of the day, more than 60 residents were treated by the St John team. Most had hypertension and diabetes, some having gone without medication since the hurricane, volunteer nurse Karen Bogle Miller, who has served with St John for nearly 30 years, outlined.
“I must thank the JN Foundation for what it is doing. I must also thank the St John team because we had medication on board was quite beneficial to the persons who came out,” the family nurse stated, commending the effort.
The JN Foundation and St John Ambulance Jamaica will continue their outreach efforts to other communities in St Elizabeth this weekend and southern Trelawny in the coming weeks. Their efforts are being funded by Corus International, an ensemble of faith-based organisations working together for a safer, stronger and more prosperous world.