Assisting with pharmacy inventory at the clinic in Mombin Crochu, Haiti, are, from left, Lindsey Cozad, Shannon Snow, Barbara Conway and Chris Pohto from Slippery Rock area churches.

Members of Slippery Rock area churches took thousand of dollars' worth of medical supplies to Haiti earlier this year.

Rev. Jim Lewis, along with a group of 12 mission volunteers from the Branchton United Methodist Church and the West Liberty United Methodist Church, went on the mission trip to Haiti. The Hilliards United Methodist Church also provided financial assistance for those who went on the weeklong trip in February.

Dawn Day Smith, conference delegate at the West Liberty United Methodist Church, said, “They try go on a mission trip every year, not to Haiti every year, but somewhere.”

Smith did not go to Haiti this year, but is responsible for attending yearly meetings that provide information about mission trips.

Members from the churches also visited Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina.

According to Smith, the mission trips are funded through the generosity of the congregations and through the churches' youth groups, which raise funds through a car wash and hoagie sale.

This year church members went to Mombin Crochu, Haiti, to aid in the construction of a sanitary bathroom at the clinic of Dr. Maudelin Medadieu.

Smith said a church member met Medadieu on a mission trip to Haiti years ago. At the time, Medadieu was looking for funding to get his doctorate. The church agreed to fund him if he stayed in Haiti and helped the people there.

“His clinic does not have a bathroom,” Lewis said. The men in the mission group, along with some Haitians, dug an 8-foot hole to start the foundation for an outhouse.

The women in the mission mostly worked in the clinics, according to Lewis.

“I was helping with the dentist by cleaning his utensils,” said Trish Cozad, a volunteer on the mission trip.

The group also helped inventory medical supplies.

The group took 14 suitcases filled with over $60,000 worth of medicine and medical supplies. The supplies were donated by Brother's Brother, and the medicine was donated by Global Links. Both companies are based in Pittsburgh.

Mission members helped at one stationary clinic and two mobile clinics. Lewis said they attended six clinics in all that provide care to more than 800 patients.Cozad said there are people who walk hours to get to the clinics. Once they get there they continue to wait to see a doctor.“They don't even complain,” she said.It took Medadieu eight or nine years to achieve his doctorate. According to Lewis, Medadieu did not take a full class load every semester and would have to wait for certain classes to be offered.The hurricane that devastated Haiti in January 2010 also prolonged his education.Medadieu received his medical degree for general practice in January 2012 and, along with two other doctors, opened a clinic in Mombin Crochu.The clinic is named Unite De Lutte Pour la Sante, which translates into English as the Fighting Unit for Health.The clinic provides prenatal care, oral care, immunizations and malnutrition programs. The clinic also monitors high blood pressure and diabetes.This was the first time for all of the members in the mission to visit Haiti; it was the fifth time for Lewis.“It was an eye-opening experience for them,” Lewis said.

Barbara Conway, right, organizes children for treatment when she and other Slippery Rock area church members assisted at a clinic in Mombin Crochu, Haiti, in February. Three churches and two charitable organizations provided volunteers and supplies for the Haitian community.