‘Many don’t know they are diabetic’ - Sergio L. Ochaeta
The Antillean Adventist University of Puerto Rico has taken its missionary medical outreach programme to the Virgin Islands (VI) with a team of thirteen students. “We are taking the blood pressure, the blood sugar, pretty much doing a physical assessment,” said Sergio L. Ochaeta, one of the organizers of the outreach activities.
The outreach is being done in collaboration with the Maranatha Seventh-day Adventist Church of Tortola.
Late yesterday afternoon April 16, 2014 this news site stumbled upon the group in action surrounded by a large crowd in an open lot alongside the East End Bakery. The rush for the medical and other support was obvious and Mr Ochaeta took some time out to tell this news site about the programme.
He said that today April 17, 2014 they will be in Road Town as the last leg of the mission to the VI as they as already served several communities across the Island namely, Long Bush, East End, Warner’s Bar among others.
“We started on Sunday of this week and every day we go to different neighbourhood. We have had over 50 people come by each day to check their health over here,” he said.
Daily the outreach starts at 6:00pm and concludes at 9:00pm. “A lot of people are overweight, [we see] a lot of high blood pressure because of what they eat. Some people are diabetic and don’t even know that they are.”
He said what he has seen the most is the need for a strong sense of spirituality. “What I personally have seen the most is the spiritual necessity. They come to my table saying ‘I have high sugar, high blood pressure, I am over weight and I need to change my diet’ but when we talk to them about God they break down and say that’s what they need,” the missionary told this news site.
“The peace that the Lord gives fulfills and gives us hope that things will change that our health will change, they are very thankful for this opportunity and the free service that the group is giving them.” Ochaeta noted.
The programme is part of a ministry called ‘South Caribbean Out Reach’ (SCOR) that was established in 1990 by Dr Barbar McDonald. As new students join the University and the Ministry each year they go the various islands across the Caribbean Region. It is the first time that they have come to the VI.
Ochaeta was very applauding of the warmth and friendly atmosphere created by the people of the VI as he commended them for being very friendly and supported. “We went to Virgin Gorda yesterday (Tuesday). It’s like paradise, it is paradise,” he said.
As it relates to the mission returning to the VI for another such outreach he said that he could not say but noted that two of the members of the team were reached out to by a native of the VI to return individually. “Two persons were invited to come back as a missionary for a summer; one doing nursing and one doing some teaching at the Adventist academy here in Tortola. They are praying about it they are thinking about it.”
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