Life of a Medicine Box^®

Sidya had a problem with her eye. It was inflamed and swollen, making it difficult for her to see. So she went to the local clinic for relief. The physician staffing the clinic diagnosed her condition as conjunctivitis. Thanks to a Medicine Box^® the clinic had received from a generous United Methodist church, she has the ointment and medication she needs to treat her ailment.

Each Medicine Box^® has a life story. From its conception to its final usage, a Medicine Box^® touches the lives of many different people in many different ways.

Conception and Birth

North of Philadelphia, just off Exit 27 of Interstate 276 is Hatboro, a community founded in the early 18th century by a hat maker, John Dawson. In 1836, the Lehman Memorial Methodist Church became the first church to be built in Hatboro. More than 260 years later, the Mission Commission of today's Lehman Memorial United Methodist Church, under the leadership of Tor and May Jansen, began looking for a summer project that would get their church members excited about mission. The church had had a successful Medicine Box^® campaign a few years earlier, completing three Medicine Boxes. Each box had enough medicine to respond to different kinds of illness in a population of 1,000 for up to three months. So the Mission Commission decided to have another campaign for Medicine Boxes with the goal of exceeding their previous achievement.

Before worship each Sunday throughout the three summer months, a church member would make an appeal to the congregation for the Medicine Box^® program. Young and old--by song, skit, video, or monologue--the people would be reminded that basic medications and supplies were needed for day-to-day treatment of the common ailments that plague babies and their mothers, older children, and adults of all ages somewhere around the world.

But they didn't stop there! Church members went to nursery schools and adult day care centers to invite them to participate in the project. The Vacation Bible School brought in Medicine Box^® supplies (see link) as part of their program. It wasn't hard for the kids to understand that other people would need a Band-Aid or an aspirin or a vitamin. Their cheerful, eager faces as they brought in their gifts inspired the rest of the congregation onward. Although every member participated, the children and youth led the way for the whole church.

When the campaign closed in early September, Lehman Memorial UMC had collected--in materials and money--six complete Medicine Boxes. Not only had they doubled their previous record but they had added several new members to the congregation because of the community interest raised by the campaign.

Childhood

When the boxes arrived at the Interchurch Medical Assistance (I.M.A.^®) warehouse in New Windsor, Maryland, the next stage of the Medicine Box^® life was ready to begin.

As soon as a Medicine Box^® arrives at the warehouse, a registered pharmacist on the staff is notified. The pharmacist has been to many of the sites that have received Medicine Boxes and he knows their value. He takes special care with each box to assure that the best quality medication and supplies are sent to the hospitals and clinics. Each box is opened individually and the contents inspected. Products with expiration dates that are less than one year away are not used in the program. They are removed and used in nearby health programs for the indigent, along with unrequested products sometimes included by well-meaning donors.

After he finishes adding each box's contents into inventory, I.M.A.^® sends a letter to the donor church (in this case, Lehman Memorial), indicating that the Medicine Box^® has been received and is available for distribution when a request comes in.

Adolescence

Photo: Clinics like this one for displaced women and children in the Democratic Republic of Congo welcome the medicine and supplies from a Medicine Box^®. Credit: Kristin Sachen/UMCOR.

The need for Medicine Boxes is great. The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) requires a minimum of 150 Medicine Boxes a year to meet the most basic needs. Angola, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Bolivia, Bosnia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Democratic Republic of Congo, Dominica, El Salvador, Ghana, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Lithuania, Malawi, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Russia, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe are some countries that have received Medicine Boxes since they were first sent out in 1994. (See the latest list.)

Even as the Medicine Boxes from Lehman Memorial United Methodist arrive, requests from Angola, Haiti, Lithuania, and the Philippines are waiting to be filled. As soon as the destination of the Medicine Box^® is known, the donor church is notified of it and is given the shipping date.

The pharmacist packs the Medicine Box^® with the inventoried products from the donor church and fills it in with pharmaceutical stock medications either purchased from or donated by pharmaceutical companies in bulk quantities. The Medicine Box^® is then labeled for shipping.

Rites of Passage

Medicine Boxes get to their final destinations in many different ways. They can be hand-carried into a country by volunteers or staff members who are already scheduled for travel. This can often be the fastest, cheapest, most direct transport. But the boxes are big and heavy. It is difficult to carry more than two or three Medicines Boxes per person. So transportation by air or ship is also commonly used for Medicine Box^® delivery.

Adulthood

Regardless of the mode of transportation, by the time the Medicine Box^® has arrived at its destination, you can tell that it has been bumped and pushed and shoved during the trip. Even though the Box isn't pretty, it is always eagerly awaited. The joy and excitement that these boxes generate are felt through words of thanks often received from the recipients.

Abraham Sellu, a director of the General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM) from Sierra Leone, gave a moving testimony about the difference a Medicine Box^® can make. His daughter become very ill in the night with debilitating diarrhea. Her parents were able to give her rehydration tablets from their community's Medicine Box^®. When they got her to the hospital, the doctor told them that the rehydration tablets had probably saved her life.

One Medicine Box^® touches of the lives of 1,000 people. The six Medicine Boxes sent from Lehman Memorial United Methodist Church touched 6,000 people--people whose lives were healed, changed, and improved because of the kindness and compassion and hard work of just one congregation.

How You Can Participate in This Program

If you would like to take part in the Medicine Box^® Program, follow the instructions on the Medicine Box^® web page. For further information, contact:
The Medicine Box^® Program
Health and Welfare Ministries, General Board of Global Ministries
475 Riverside Drive, Room 330, New York, NY 10115
Telephone (212) 870-3683; Fax (212) 870-3624
E-mail: hwmin@gbgm-umc.org
Internet: http://gbgm-umc.org/health/medbox/

If you would like to provide financial support for the Medicine Box^® program, without gathering the supplies, please give to Advance #982630-3, "The Medicine Box^®." Gifts may be given through any local United Methodist Church, or sent directly to the Medicine Box^® program at the above address. Your gifts will be used to purchase medicine and supplies and to cover the costs of shipping Medicine Boxes to their destinations. Credit card gifts may be made online or by calling (800) 554-8583.

More Medicine Box^® Resources

• The Medicine Box^® Home Page
  Includes background information, a list of contents of the Medicine Box^®, and order form and more.
• About Interchurch Medical Assistance (I.M.A.^®).
• A Closer Look at the Ravages of War and Challenges of Recovery in Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, UMCOR Update, Fall 2001.
• Medicine Box^® Update Report, Where the boxes have been sent.
• Pastor with the Blue Hair, Fundraising Idea.