Dr. Matt McClung, East Ohio UMVIM coordinator and pastor of Chapel UMC in Madison, is leading this UMVIM team from Jan. 26-Feb. 8 to three locations in Liberia.
Upon arrival in Monrovia, the team will divide into three smaller teams. One group will go to southern Liberia to the Camphor Mission Station. They will help with the construction of the Judy Olin Memorial Missionary House and work in the school’s library and clinic. East Ohio’s the Rev. Kathy and Dr. Danny Dickreide are missionaries at the Camphor Mission Station.
The other two groups will be located in the north central region of Liberia in the towns of Gbarnga and Ganta, near the Guinea border. Both of these groups will be doing community-based health education in cooperation with the clinics already established in those areas. Primary emphasis will be on hygiene, clean drinking water, and HIV/AIDS education with town and village people.
The team will be faced with many challenges, primarily as a result of the continued rebuilding from the Civil War’s devastation of the entire country. Liberia is a country without electricity except for gasoline-powered generators. The Civil War demolished the total infrastructure system leaving roads difficult to drive on, no good sanitation systems, and rarely clean drinking water. As a result, Liberians face a great potential for illness and death from diseases that could otherwise be prevented.
Currently, the average life span of a Liberian is 41 years of age with an infant mortality rate of about 15 percent while nearly 25 percent of all children die before their fifth birthday. The largest culprit of disease is from unsafe water for drinking or for cleaning food before eating. Diarrhea, typhoid fever, and hepatitis A infect a lot of the population. Approximately 6 percent of the population is infected with HIV/AIDS. Other diseases such as malaria and yellow fever also are prevalent.
As this UMVIM team serves in Liberia for two weeks, they will be prepared to come home and tell the story of the great need for continued work in Liberia. Our efforts are sure to make an impact, but will probably demonstrate even more ways that East Ohioans can and need to be in service to the people of Liberia.
Mission team to focus on 