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Haiti, one of the world's five poorest nations, gets international attention because of the number of refugees who leave by boat in search of a better future. The 80,000 inhabitants of Ile de la Gonave are neglected, even in Haiti--there is no government medical post, and facilities in the health posts run by missions are minimal. Typhoid and cholera epidemics threaten the island. Médecins Sans Frontières plans to send staff and supplies and train local health workers.
I would highly recommend taking a dental mission trip if the opportunity presents itself. While the work is demanding, there are few situations that produce such a high level of personal satisfaction. There are several organizations that sponsor medical/dental trips to foreign countries such as Faith In Practice and the Christian Medical and Dental Society. You can also check with your local place of worship. Many opportunities can be found by simply making your desire to serve known. You also can provide care without leaving the State of Texas. The second annual Texas Mission of Mercy will be held in Tyler, Texas. The first event was a huge success, and this year's event promises to be even more successful!
Mackenzie, a missionary of the London Mission, came to China in 1875. He first did missionary works in Hankou and moved to Tianjin in 1879, during which he established the London Mission Hospital and a medical school under the assistance of Li Hongzhang. He made certain contributions to the elimination of diseases in Chinese people and the spread of western medicine.
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Critical incidents adapted to presentation in picture form were used to investigate responses of Aboriginal adolescents from Elcho Island mission in the Northern Territory of Australia in conflict situations arising from culture contact. These Aboriginal youths are part of a complex environment where choice behaviour is mediated by specific and broader situational characteristics of the social environment. Results showed a relationship between conflict responses and orientation to traditional values and skills, but no apparent relationship between conflict responses and modern value orientation or psychopathology variables. Adolescents who attended high school in Darwin were seen as more mission and academically oriented than locally educated youth. Contary to expected patterns, males appeared to be less involved in both mission and traditional activities and more restricted by traditional social expectations than were females.
BACKGROUND: The study objective was to compare the Taylor-Johnson Temperament Analysis secondary population norms for adolescents, to test results of Assemblies of God missionary adolescents, and determine if the mission's experience had significant impact on personality traits. METHODS: A retrospective record review study of Taylor-Johnson Temperament Analysis test results administered to all missionary adolescents aged 13- to 18-years-old, having attended a yearly school of missions from 1986 to 1994, was performed. A two-sample, two-tailed t-test was used for statistical analysis. Test results were compared with standard adolescent and adult norms. Initial, and second test results when available, were compared for significant personality trait changes in adolescents over a 2-3 year interval, while in the mission's program. Subpopulation norms were calculated for the study group. RESULTS: Initial tests from 438 study group adolescents demonstrated significant differences in 7 of 9 personality trait categories for males, and 8 of 9 for females, compared with test adolescent norms. Initial, and second test comparisons were performed in 67 adolescents, and showed no significant changes in the personality trait scores in males and females. Personality trait profiles for females more closely resembled adult than adolescent norms, with 8 of the 9 personality trait categories showing no significant difference between adult female norms and study females. CONCLUSION: Clinicians and mission's sending agencies should be aware of the unique Taylor-Johnson Temperament Analysis test patterns for missionary adolescents, and that Taylor-Johnson Temperament Analysis norm tables for adolescents seem inadequate in evaluating missionary adolescents. Appropriate subpopulation norms are likely necessary. The impact of missions on personality trait categories of missionary adolescents seems negligible, but needs further research with methods that assure follow-up testing. These considerations could apply to other subpopulations and psychological tests.
Phenotypic variability is evaluated in a series of skeletal samples from the Apalachee region of Florida. Based on ethnohistoric evidence, several predictive models for changes in variability are generated. If variability decreases through time, this likely represents the effect of genetic drift in populations experiencing epidemic disease and population loss. If variability increases through time, this suggests that population aggregation or genetic admixture were primary factors shaping the Apalachee population during the mission period. Dental dimensions were collected from a series of precontact (pre-1500), early mission (AD 1633-1650) (San Pedro y San Pablo de Patale), and late mission (post-1657) (San Luis) samples from the Apalachee region and were subjected to univariate and multivariate variability analyses. The results indicate that the late mission San Luis sample was significantly more variable than the Patale or precontact samples; however, the Patale sample exhibited no significant variability change in comparison to the precontact population. This suggests that the missions initially effected limited change in genetic variability in the mission populations. However, San Luis was affected by either admixture or population aggregation to such a degree that the observed variation had increased beyond earlier levels. Given the limited historic evidence for population aggregation at this mission, and the comparatively large resident Spanish population, the increased variability may be indicative of admixture at this mission, and potentially at this mission only. Based on a limited data set, however, it appears that the mission period cannot be typified by a single evolutionary or historic process.
Matorga Mission is in the Beira Corridor and is guarded by Zimbabwean soldiers as there are dangers of Renamo guerilla raids. The mission cares for over a hundred children many of whom are war orphans. This is Diana's first letter to the Journal. I hope she will be sending us further letters at intervals.
The hardships and rewards of a medical missionary's life in a primitive part of Northern Nigeria in the 1940s and 1950s are in themselves an article of faith.
Medical missionaries, historically the pioneers in introducing Western medicine into many tropical countries, are today responsible for a significant proportion of health care in several of those countries. Illustrating his theme with references to personal experiences in the former Belgian Congo, the author enlarges on the organization of a church-related comprehensive health care programme based on a chain of rural health centres and satellite dispensaries that brought curative and preventive medicine to the whole population within the area covered. Trypanosomiasis was eradicated, yaws and tuberculosis controlled, cerebral malaria eliminated, worm-loads reduced and nutrition improved. Leprosy was treated within the integrated service as soon as the sulphones became available. Medical auxiliaries and nurse-midwives were trained practically to tackle the local problems. Students from many missions over a wide area went into government, mission and company employ after training. Research concentrated mainly on the solution of pressing local problems, such as onchocerciasis and leprosy, but incidentally investigated interesting clinical phenomena.
Few long-term statistical series exist that can document the mortality transition in Africa. This paper uses data from the parish registers of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia to study morality in Ovamboland between 1930 and 1990. The paper identifies significant discontinuities and reversals in the trend in mortality. Much of the mortality transition occurred in a rapid breakthrough concentrated between the early 1950s and early 1960s. Adult mortality fell more than existing model life tables would predict and the pattern of relatively high early-age mortality typical of modern Africa emerged only at this time. While a range of developments in Ovamboland contributed to the overall decline in mortality, the most important factor was the establishment, by the Finnish Mission, of a Western system of health care. In Ovamboland, the drive to 'good health at low cost' was articulated not through political institutions but through the church.
Three decadal birth cohorts (1837-1846), 1870-1879 and 1900-1909) each of approximately 500 individuals, were constructed retrospectively through the parish records of the Moravian Mission at Mamre in the Western Cape region of South Africa. Nominative data collection techniques were used to determine the infant mortality rates (IMR), quinquennial mortality rates (QMR) and life expectancies of the three cohorts. The quality of the data was investigated, specifically non-registration and attrition. Overall, male registration coverage was substantially better than that for females. Birth registration was best for the 1837-1846 cohort for males and females, with the 1900-1909 registration being next best. Infant death registration was most complete for males in these two cohorts, but was poor for females. Based on these data, the IMR for the cohorts born in 1837-1846, 1870-1879 and 1900-1909 (196, 182 and 128 per 1000 respectively for males and 160, 172 and 97 per 1000 respectively for females) appeared to be underestimates. There was some evidence of a downward trend for the IMR with time for males, but this was not statistically significant. For the three cohorts QMR did not differ statistically for males, but for females the third cohort was consistently lower than the other cohorts. The difference was small (well within the 95% confidence interval) but the third cohort ranked consistently below the other two. The life expectancies did not differ significantly between cohorts. The life expectancies at birth (range 34-40 years for males and 32-45 years for females) were probably overestimates due to biased IMR. The life expectancies at age 1 (range 41-44 for males and 37-49 for females) were considered to be more representative figures. Life expectancies at age 20 (37-45 years) were fairly stable over time except for females in the 1900-1909 cohort whose life expectancies were substantially higher than the figures for the earlier cohorts. All mortality indices investigated in this study consistently showed a lighter burden of mortality in historical Mamre compared to 'coloureds' in the Cape Colony at the turn of the century. This is probably the result of the better housing, environmental, social, economic and educational conditions on the missions relative to the rest of the Colony in the century after the emancipation of slaves.
The London Bible and Domestic Female Mission was founded in 1857 by Ellen Ranyard. A nursing mission was added in 1868. The structure and work of the mission can be used to exemplify three strategies utilized in Victorian philanthropy. First, the use of working class women in the maintenance of social order, secondly the utilization of the middle class household to exemplify relations between the social classes, and thirdly the creation of districts in an attempt to recreate a 'golden age' of rural communities. Ranyard created a women's mission to women. As such it did not display the gender division of labour apparent in much health and caring work, but a hierarchical division of labour based on social class is evident.
Many African Americans from a variety of medical specialties are interested in satisfying a life-long dream of visiting Africa by volunteering their services to faith-based and private volunteer organizations doing missionary work on the continent. While this can be an extremely rewarding experience in which measurable good can be accomplished, this path can also be strewn with many obstacles that will affect both the success of the mission and the personal well-being of the volunteer. The American Medical Team for Africa is a nonprofit, tax-exempt, volunteer organization that has been doing medical missionary work in Africa since 1993. This manuscript is a compilation of this 10-year experience that has established some very useful guidelines for insuring a successful and safe mission if you are fortunate enough to have this opportunity.
The western-trained surgeon working in a mission hospital in a developing country finds that in spite of the heavy demands placed upon him the work can be most absorbing, challenging, and satisfying. Some impressions gained during 31/2 years working in the department of surgery of a mission hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal, are recorded. Particular reference is made to the striking differences in disease incidence, as brought out in a review of operative surgery for 1977.
An interest in the development of nursing from early Christian times and the persecution of women in the Early Church has led to this study of nurses and martyrdom. Historical research using secondary sources was undertaken to identify and describe the experiences of nurse martyrs with special reference to the present century. Martyrdom does not belong to the past as generally believed. The twentieth century is recognised as a century of Christian martyrdom unparalleled since the earliest Christian times. Women have been major contributors to the missionary calling and during the course of the nineteenth century many woman missionary societies were founded. Education and health care go hand in hand with the Christian message. While a few examples of nurses who suffered martyrdom in the mission field have been recorded, it is necessary to examine the events which led to their death. This article pays tribute to known and unknown nurse martyrs. Subsequent articles describe the suffering of nurse martyrs identified in selected world regions.
I have volunteered for many years for a woman's organization raising money to build trade and technical schools around the world, but I had never been asked to use my education as a nurse for this purpose. When the opportunity came for me and my classmates to join a volunteer mission to Honduras we jumped at the chance. Since we were all nurses we knew how to deliver patient care. This mission gave us the opportunity to use our newly acquired nurse practitioner skills. It also gave us the opportunity to see first hand how much need there is in other countries, as well as our own, for professional volunteers to help in multicultural settings.
Knoxville College Medical Department (KCMD) was, to all appearances, a missionary medical school established in 1895 by a small black Presbyterian college in the Tennessee mountains to train African-American physicians. In reality, it functioned as a proprietary medical school organized and operated by a group of local white physicians who were more interested in making money than in furthering the school's mission of educating black Christian physicians. KCMD limped along until 1900 when the college's new president reported to the trustees about the white faculty's greed, irreligious behavior, poor teaching, and bad medical reputation, and about how the presence of the medical school on campus undermined the college's overall mission. KCMD graduated two students before closing its doors in 1900. A group of faculty then reopened the school off-campus as the Knoxville Medical College. That school closed in 1910.