Pubdate: Tue, 26 Oct 2004
Source: Advertiser, The (Lafayette, LA)
Copyright: 2004 The Lafayette Daily Advertiser
Contact:  http://www.theadvertiser.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1670
Author: Sebreana Domingue
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

PHYSICIAN SETS OUT TO CHANGE THE WORLD

The doctor, who works in Houston and has a hospital named in her honor, 
told students gathered at the Heymann Performing Arts Center on Monday that 
her sister's death inspired her to become a physician.

The speech kicked off Red Ribbon Week activities in Lafayette Parish, which 
is aimed at raising awareness about the threat of drug and alcohol abuse to 
the nation's young people.

"I decided to be a doctor, and I said I am going to take care of poor 
people and not let them die from lack of good medical care," Jones said. "I 
said I am going to change the world."

As a medical pioneer, Jones has established clinics in Mexico and Haiti and 
is working on one in Uganda. She is currently chief of the medical staff at 
Riverside General Hospital in Houston.

Dr. Ernest Kinchen, representing the J.H. Tyler chapter of the National 
Medical Association, which sponsored Jones' trip to Lafayette, said the 
Living Legend program is aimed at inspiring students to make the world a 
better place. He urged students to heed the words of Jones, the first black 
person to graduate from the University of Arkansas and obtain a medical degree.

"My mother had an eighth-grade education and a $25 debt," said Jones, whose 
mother raised four children in rural Arkansas after their father was 
killed. "She had the determination that her children would be educated."

There are no obstacles that can keep a person from achieving, Jones said.

"She instilled into us that nothing was off limits except for what we put 
off limits," Jones said. "You can be, you can do anything you want to do."

Maxine Hamilton, supervisor of the Safe and Drug Free Schools program, told 
students that like Jones, they must face the ills of the world.

Avoiding drugs, alcohol and violence can allow a person to accomplish their 
goals, Hamilton said.

"It is about each day taking a look at the choices you make," she said.
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