I QUARTERLY BULLETIN 3
f Besides the hi ghl y trained health care providers, there are the
couriers; this is where I fit in as a volunteer. When Mrs. Breckinridge
  founded FNS, the form of transportation was horses. The role of the
{ couriers was to feed and take care of the horses. The couriers also
.‘ traveled on long trips with the nurses. The nurses and midwives
2 would travel through the mountains and hollows ("hollers") to visit
. patients. A round trip might take days so the couriers helped the
t ` nurses on the trips. However, as modes of transportation changed, the
I . . . .
· role of the courier evolved. Present day couriers take medicines,
  prescriptions, medical supplies, and mail between the hospitals and
i clinics on Mondays and Thursdays. On another day, couriers travel
with nursing assistants to homes (home health), where homebound
j patients receive baths and have their vital signs and medicines
checked. During the remaining two days, couriers shadow doctors
and FNPs in the hospital and clinics and tutor adults and children in
A the schools about how to read proficiently and how to perform
arithmetic.
Home health was the most rewarding experience of my
travels to Leslie County. On my excursions, I learned about the
culture of eastem Kentuckians. In the home I met a large majority of
people who emphasized religion. Most people are Baptists or Pente-
costals, and a majority of the homes have a picture of Jesus and a
picture of The Last Supper.
A large portion ofthe residents live in house trailers and have
coal burning stoves. Coal companies are the second largest employ-
ers in the county next to FNS. While many of the men work for coal
V companies, a large percentage of women rear children at home.
? On my home health rounds, I ate a wide variety of homemade
Q jams and garden raised vegetables. Talking with the patients I noticed
¤ a strong sense of family commitment. There are no homeless people
in Leslie County, and there are no anonymous crimes on the streets.
People take care of one another, and if a family member is hurting, the
. family takes the person into the home. More than once I found homes
- where relatives from other cities came to Leslie County to live with
. r relatives. Few Leslie Countains leave eastern Kentucky. There is a
jj deep sense of belonging and family commitment. Not only was I
  rewarded by meeting people, I was also able to participate in the care
  of patients, to take vital signs, and to bathe patients. I also discovered
  that the majority of illnesses relate to high blood pressure, high