The more than 8,000 miles that separated doctors Trevor Dixon and Nagamalleswa Chandolu at birth converged on Monday at King’s House in St Andrew when the Jamaican Government vested both physicians with the Order of Distinction (OD) for their service to the country.

Dr Chandolu, who was born in India, received the national honour for contributions in the fields of medicine and community service through health fairs and camps, while Jamaican-born Dr Dixon was recognised for contributions to health care and education through the Jamaicans Abroad Helping Jamaicans at Home Foundation.

“I am feeling humbled. I am feeling good overall. We are doing the work and we do it for the love and not for the likes,” Dr Dixon, who heads the emergency department at Jacobi Hospital in New York, United States, told the Jamaica Observer after receiving the national honour.

“The people and the Government of Jamaica see what we are doing and really appreciate it. You can talk about individual accomplishments but until all of us are free, none of us are free. While I am grateful for this honour, I hope it is a door that can be opened for us to do more things in Jamaica. There are a lot of players here in Jamaica in charity and philanthropy,” he said.

“This is an opportunity for the Government of Jamaica and other groups who do charity work to know that we are a serious player in this area and we would like to move Jamaica forward, not just to get awards. We love the recognition, but if this means that we cannot help to move Jamaica forward then this award would mean nothing. There is so much work still left to be done for the underserved and those who need the help,” Dixon added.

Over many years, Dixon, who was born in Manchester, has led numerous medical and other missions to Jamaica, with majority of the volunteers coming from the US.

A few years ago Dixon, through his foundation and its partners, introduced the Butterfly hand-held ultrasound device to the island’s public health system under what has been named The Jamaica Hand-held Ultrasound Project (JHUP).

“We have been doing ultrasound education for doctors in the public hospitals primarily. We teach them how to use ultrasound in an emergency. Through that, people in the health field realised we were serious about moving Jamaica forward in the emergency room to save lives. Through that door, other doors were opened where we saw the different needs,” Dixon said.

He made special mention of Dr Hugh Wong at Kingston Public Hospital (KPH).

“He has been my brother and my advisor when it comes to the health-care system here in Jamaica. He is one of my key partners. We have our local champions who help us understand what the real needs of communities are and not just what we think the needs are,” Dixon said.

His wife, Claudia Dixon, was beyond elated to see her husband receiving his award from Governor General Sir Patrick Allen.

“I am extremely proud. We are ecstatic. It is not just New York and New Jersey, it is actually Jamaica and all over. Many of the volunteers that Trevor has are not even Jamaicans. They are not even West Indians. Wi little and wi tallawah and we are large. I am beyond ecstatic and we are blessed. This journey started out with just the two of us and what it has grown into is just amazing,” she told the Observer.

“We never foresaw any of this. I think it is just blessing and blessings. Trevor always says that he is anointed and I truly believe that he is. His work has touched a lot of lives, from children to adults, to geriatrics. He has renovated schools, rooms at KPH. He has done medical missions, surgical missions, COVID and hurricane relief and I am sure there is more that I am missing. We thought it was just going to be a medical and surgical mission but it goes far beyond that. I ask that everyone just continue to support him and love upon him and ask for their blessing as he continues this amazing journey he chartered from childhood,” said the very proud wife.

Meanwhile, Dr Chandolu said he has been practising medicine in Jamaica for at least 17 years, bringing affordable options to the poorest of people.

“I feel really happy and it is really meaningful for my life. For the last 17 years I charge people $500 for doctor’s visit right in Half-Way-Tree. Not only in Kingston, but in many other parishes like St Thomas, St Catherine, and St Mary. The $500 is still in effect now. Anybody can come and do a check-up and get prescription. We charge extra for other services like urine test, blood test, heart test, and anything. We do what we do for poor people so that the common man can get medical service instead of spending a lot of time at a health centre for one full day,” Chandolu told the Observer.

“They can come and get service same time. We do a lot of our health camps in churches and schools in the communities. The last five years we have done medical camps all over the island. Personally, I do a lot of medical campus and I do it for the Indian High Commission too because I am from India,” he explained.

He shared that his father was an uneducated labourer but that didn’t prevent him from achieving.

“I am the first son out of my family. I have three elder sisters and three younger brothers. One of my brothers is a doctor in St Mary. He also does medical camps, and my brother-in-law is also a doctor in May Pen. Two of my sisters-in-law are also doctors. My wife is a dentist and my nephew is a dentist. We support all medical camps in Jamaica.

“The Government trained me from I was about 10 years old. From that time until medical college, I had completely free education given to me by the Government of India. I am proud to be serving in Jamaica as a person of Indian origin and I want to continue more service to Jamaica,” Chandolu said.

“I love Jamaica. I respect Jamaica as a growing country with a vision. I love the sports here in Jamaica. I am a part of Jamaica and I feel proud. I am really happy to be in Jamaica and to keep bringing more affordable medical services to the common man. Without good health, no nation can be built. You need good health to build a good nation,” he said.

Doctor Nagamalleswa Chandolu (left) smiles on being congratulated by Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness after being vested with the Order of Distinction at King’s House on Monday. (Photo: Garfield Robinson)