Volunteer doctors visit Holy Spirit Clinic in Maggotty
HOLY SPIRIT Clinic, located in Maggotty, St Elizabeth, receives an average of 70 patients each day from Mondays to Thursdays and is currently run by several Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Sr Rita Kurdziel, SSCJ, and Sr Emilia Malczak, SSCJ, have been working at the clinic as nurses for a number of years, along with Sr Clare Marie Carriger, SSCJ, who is the administrator. Sr Scholastyka Hajduk, SSCJ also joined the team in late 2016.
Recently, three Polish doctors – Dr Izabela Zwierz, Dr Malvina Birczynska, and Dr Malgorzata Wilusz – took one month’s vacation from work to volunteer at the clinic. Having graduated from the Jagellonian University in Krakow, Poland, with specialisations in cardiology, endocrinology, and infectious diseases, the missionary doctors were following their calling to serve the poor in a mission country, while experiencing a new culture and gaining experience in the field.
Once per week, the visiting doctors travelled to visit a number of homebound patients in the remote areas surrounding Maggotty. They also assisted one day per week at the St Vincent Strambi Clinic in Bull Savannah.
Fr Marek Bzinkowski, pastor of Holy Spirit Church in Maggotty, and the Sisters at the clinic, were extremely delighted with the visit and expressed gratitude for the assistance. The doctors were warmly welcomed by the Maggotty community, and left the island with priceless memories. They truly fell in love with Jamaica and the people of Maggotty, and have expressed their desire to return.