Nebulizer gifted to May Pen Hospital
COPELAND JOHNSON, more popularly known as ‘Carl’ or ‘Babylon’ has made at least one piece of furniture in every house in the community of Yallahs in St. Thomas.
Giving an account of how he got started in the trade, Johnson, who was a security guard at one time, recalled stopping by a friend’s workshop in the evenings after he had finished working.
Approximately three weeks later, the then 20-odd-year-old was able to make everything, from a nightstand to a whatnot.
“I was trained in welding, so I already had a good understanding of measurements. All I needed to learn was how to cut and assembly the joints,” he recounted.
Johnson told Rural Xpress that though his interest in the trade was initially based on curiosity and a desire to ‘kill some extra time’, his new knowledge soon became his sole source of survival.
“My life changed suddenly and there arose a need for me to take care of my family, and I realised that woodwork was the faster and probably more profitable method of earning at the time,” Johnson related. He bought two pieces of tool that he thought were necessary—a plane and a saw.
STEADY PROGRESSION
“After buying them and starting to work, ambition opened my eyes and made me realise that I needed other tools to do the work well, so each time I sold a piece, I bought the required machinery,” he said.
“I also borrowed a microloan and bought a joiner and a circular Copeland Johnson in his workshop. Doors made by Johnson on display at his shop in Yallahs.
saw; and, from then, I moved on to build myself into what I am now.”
Johnson’s first piece of work was a dresser that he made for a relative and, although it was done for free, he revealed that it opened the door to many other opportunities. He later moved on from making furniture
and focused on building doors and various fixtures, including cupboards.
Referring to his prominence as a maker of doors, the 54year-old explained that the types he build require much time and skill, and that other tradesmen tended to stay away from making them.
Johnson, who can still be found at any given day of the week working at his shop in Pondside, says the best encouragement he can give to young people is to learn a trade.
“Whether you are educated or not, it is important to have a trade, because anyone who does can never go hungry. There will always be a need for you and the service you offer,” the skilled woodworker pointed out.
“We have too many lazy young men on the road giving trouble. If they should just take six months and pay some attention or spend some time at a trade shop, then their lives will change.
They wouldn’t have to envy anybody, because they would be able to provide for themselves and their families,” Johnson declared. Team leader for the mission out of New York, Joy Howell and senior pastor at the Family Christian Centre, Bishop Ray Mott, share lens time for our camera. BISHOP RAY Mott from the New York-based Family Christian Centre and his team of medical volunteers recently donated a brand new nebulizer to the May Pen Hospital, which had only three of the device to treat asthmatic patients.
“It makes us feel good to know that we are meeting a critical need,” Mott told Rural Xpress, while indicating that he intended to add another nebulizer to the hospital’s stock.
The senior pastor at his church in New York said the medical mission to various locations across the island is about ministering to the whole man and not just getting the gospel out there.
In May Pen, the mission also provided free medical care and information on healthy lifestyle to persons in the town and its environs.
Team leader for the mission out of New York, Joy Howell, said they have been coming across a number of lifestylerelated diseases, such as high blood pressure and diabetes. “We alerted patients to the risk associated with untreated hypertension,” she reported, while pleading with Jamaicans to make the effort to lose more weight and decrease their salt intake as these are the two most powerful determinants of both diseases.
Bishop Mott, who hails from the parish of St Ann and migrated years ago to the United States of America (USA), said that, as a Jamaican, he felt the need to give back to his country this way. He said convincing team leader Howell, who was born in the USA of Barbadian parents, to come to Jamaica was not hard as she was more than willing to divert from their previous missions to Africa to minister here.
As a Jamaican, Mott said he wanted to debunk some myths which are really contributing to diabetes in the island. “
“We think that our food is healthy because it’s all from the ground. The starch intake is the chief contributor to diabetic epidemic in the island,” he warned.
The mission, he said, is all about body, soul and spirit, as it made no sense preaching about the love of Jesus to people who are sick and hungry. “We also recognise that if a man is hungry, you should feed his belly, too.
“Don’t just preach to his head and ignore the body. We need to minister to the whole man,” the bishop declared.