Bowen Association helping provide migrant relief

Sherri Brown

A migrant worker carries boxes for tomatoes at Murray Farms in Bainbridge. Hundreds of migrant workers come from Mexico and Haiti to the south Georgia area to harvest summer crops.

One man has a rash, another a sore throat. Doctors, physician’s assistants and students take temperatures, check blood pressure and listen to patients. They pass out pills and give instructions on staying healthy.

And they do it all in a tomato warehouse.

Peanuts and cotton. Corn and tomatoes. Peppers, cucumbers, squash and eggplant. The food that graces tables all over the country is the industry that drives the people in the five counties making up Bowen Baptist Association.

“We’re a rural and farming community. We have some huge farms here, some as big as 25,000 acres,” said Charles Holland, director of missions for Bowen Association.

But much of the food grown in the area must be picked by hand and for that farmers hire migrant workers. Most in south Georgia come from Mexico or Haiti and they come by the hundreds to pick during the early and late summer season.

Charles Holland

Nine years ago Holland was part of a team that first brought in a health crew to provide free medical care for migrant workers right in the fields. The health professionals were doctors and physician assistant students from Emory University in Atlanta. Holland, who is chaplain of the group, and other Baptist volunteers provided support for the program, including feeding and housing many of the volunteers.

The association also helped start a Hispanic mission and the pastor, Arnoldo Gonzales, serves as an interpreter during the weeks of the farm worker project.

“But we don’t have a Haitian work here, so we aren’t able to provide much help there. We’re trying to get someone but it’s not easy,” Holland said.

The medical project is supported by the local farmers who allow the workers time to meet with medical personnel.

“We’re seeing about 1,400 people a year. We service cases we discover or send them for other treatment if they need it,” Holland said.

Sherri Brown

Prevention and education are also a goal of the annual program.

“We try to provide education before they get to the point they end up in an emergency room,” said Ed Boyd, program manager for the farm worker program. “We see a lot of diabetes and hypertension and of course, a lot of back pain.”

Emory students receive school credit, but don’t receive pay for the three weeks of work. But more and more students sign up.

“We have 50 (physician assistant) students and 38 have chosen this. We attract a lot of mission-driven students,” said Dr. Tom Himelick, director of community projects for the Emory PA program. “This is a chance to practice old-fashioned medicine. There are not a lot of labs out here; you have to use your ability to listen to the patient.”

This is the last year Holland will work with the group. He retires August 31 and his absence will be noticed.

“He’s a godsend,” said Boyd. “He helps so much with community support and provides a great support system. I don’t know what we’ll do without him.”

Sherri Brown

The migrant workers usually receive medical care only when they are seriously ill. A medical team from Emory University examines and talks with each of the workers in the fields or in warehouses like this one. Migrant workers receive medical care and Bowen Baptist Association works to provide support for the health teams and the migrant workers.

The Bowen association is one of 92 associations in the Georgia Baptist Convention. Associational Missions Ministries of the GBC helps associations develop and implement missions ministries like the farm worker project. For more information, contact Frank Nuckolls at fnuckolls@gabaptist.org or (770) 936-5220 or 1 (800) RING–GBC. Associational Missions Ministries is possible through your gifts to the Cooperative Program.

You and your church may send Cooperative Program gifts to:
Dr. J. Robert White, Executive Director, GBC
2930 Flowers Rd., S.
Atlanta, GA 30341-5562