Physical Health South Sudan Project #10609

A Healthier Future for South Sudan's Families

by International Medical Corps

Project Report | May 8, 2015
Grace: Nurse, Midwife, First Responder

By Robert Rutherford | Resource Development Officer

Grace

In honor of International Day of the Midwife on May 5th, International Medical Corps recognized one of our inspirational midwives in the field, Grace. Grace received the Founder's Award at International Medical Corps' Annual Awards Gala for her unwavering commitment to building a cadre of skilled First Responders to serve their own communities in rural South Sudan.

Grace has worked tirelessly to train midwives in a country with one of the world’s highest maternal mortality rates. Here is Grace's moving acceptance speech from that night.

“I feel very honored to be here with you at this fantastic function. I would like to extend my sincere appreciation to International Medical Corps for allowing me to do my important work. And to be here in the United States today.

“I am a daughter of the newly born nation of South Sudan which has experienced more than five decades of civil war. I was born during the war. I grew up in the war. And I am still experiencing the war. They say in my country, if you go one night without hearing a gun shot that is considered a peaceful night’s rest.

“When I was a child of 6 years old in a refugee camp, a group of nurses came to provide health care to the people. What motivated me to choose this career was the nature of their lifesaving work. And honestly as a young girl, I just absolutely loved their uniforms.

“My father was killed during the war. Our home burnt into ash. I was forced to look for a job at the age of 11 to earn my school fees. But I worked hard. And went on to receive my degree in nursing. Since then, International Medical Corps saw the potential in me. I was able to continue my training. As well as to train other midwives. Since 2008, Kajo Keji midwifery school has graduated more than 105 midwives and nurses.

“As a midwife, the smile of a mother hearing her baby cry for the first time moves me more than words can express.

“Dealing with life is not an easy thing in South Sudan. But as a health worker, as a mother, as a teacher, I can see that we are making progress.

“I thank International Medical Corps for recognizing my work, and everyone in this room and around the world who supports us in our mission. Thank you very much. God bless you.”

International Medical Corps supported Grace’s advanced midwifery and leadership training, paving the way for her to educate other midwives in South Sudan. In a country where up to 90% of women give birth far from formal medical facilities and without the help of professionally trained assistants, midwives can be the difference between life and death for mothers and newborns. With just 307 registered midwives available for a population of 2.4 million women of reproductive age in South Sudan, schools like the one Grace works at are having a remarkable impact.

Today, Grace helps oversee the school’s strategic plan to provide quality learning opportunities for nurse midwives, and is being mentored to take on the role of school principal in the coming year. Thanks to her leadership and hard work, 48 midwives and 20 nurses to date have graduated from the school and are providing care for expectant mothers and their newborns every day. Grace and her fellow International Medical Corps health workers are directly helping South Sudan reduce child mortality and improve maternal health.

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Feb 9, 2015
Jal's Story

By Robert Rutherford | Resource Development Officer

Kajo Keji Medical Training School, South Sudan

There was a time not too long ago in UN House, a UN hosted compound on the South Western outskirts of Juba, that when a woman went into labour her family didn’t know where to turn. There was someone who could help though, a young man who seemed to be involved in lots of community activities in the camp and could often be seen in and around the maternity unit. So they called him. It might have been three a.m. but he came ready to help a mother however he could, even if that meant delivering a baby. That young man is Jal and he is now a student midwife working in the International Medical Corps maternity unit and has answered many calls like this because he, like the mothers he helps, is also an Internally Displaced Person living in UN House.

Jal was a midwifery student at the International Medical Corps training centre in Kajo Keji. During a visit to Juba there was an outbreak of violence that forced him to seek refuge. He moved into UN House because he’s Nuer and, like everyone else, feared for his life. Jal moved in with the few belongings he had and this included a first aid kit. Without asking anyone and in response to what he saw, he started treating minor injuries and ailments with his first aid kit. This wasn’t anything fancy just a good personal kit and it was in the early days of the crisis. Eventually the United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan’s medical director found and spoke to Jal and was very impressed, he gave him more drugs and access to whatever he needed. He effectively became the only community health service on the base all thanks to his drive and the training he’d received at Kajo Keji with International Medical Corps.

Eventually Jal wants to become a gynaecologist because “it’s the way I can have the biggest possible impact on the problems facing South Sudan.” Sadly, Jal is not full of hope for the future of his country nor his place in it when asked whether he will continue his studies in South Sudan and at the International Medical Corps training centre in Kajo Keji he says he doesn’t think he ever will be able to because he is Nuer and “now we are a target…this will all happen again.” Right now he is focused on his work in UN House but eventually he wants to continue his studies in Kenya or anywhere else he can. Along with his role in the maternity unit at UN house with International Medical Corps he’s also a youth leader and all round active member of his community. Thanks to the generous support of International Medical Corps and other donors, many others in South Sudan, with aspirations similar to Jal, are receiving the training they need to make a meaningful and long-lasting impact in their country.

Hands on training at Kajo Keji, South Sudan

Classroom session at Kajo Keji, South Sudan

Graduation day at Kajo Keji, South Sudan

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Nov 12, 2014
The Lasting Impact of Training Programs in South Sudan

By Robert Rutherford | Resource Development Officer

Nora Hellman is an ER nurse from Montana—she’s been to Haiti after the 2010 earthquake to provide medical care with International Medical Corps. She’s been to the Philippines after the devastating 2013 tsunami. Most recently, she was in South Sudan, helping to care for the victims of a brutal civil war.

When she was in South Sudan, she worked with six student nurses from a school in the capital city that is supported by International Medical Corps. These student nurses had already been forced to flee the city of Juba and their nursing school, and circumstances put them in a camp filled with people who couldn’t go home because of the violence. Every day, they were treating gunshot wounds, machete wounds and malaria. According to Nora “Even when we couldn’t reach the clinic, they continued to treat patients, because that’s what their training with International Medical Corps taught them to do.”

The six young nurses she worked with faced the violence and fear of war every day—but they could not stand by while their countrymen suffered. They chose to do something to help; they chose to become nurses. Nora reflects, “I believe they are the hope of their country—they and all who refuse to give in to despair and instead work to make a difference.” Those nurses are still in South Sudan now, tending to the injured and training families about how to stay healthy.

In conclusion Nora reflects, “Was my work there more important for the lives I helped to save in our triage tents—or for the student nurses I trained who will continue our work in the years to come? All I know is that I’m proud of them—and I’m proud to be a part of International Medical Corps.” Thanks to the generous support of GlobalGiving and other donors International Medical Corps is able to put an emphasis on training – even in the midst of disaster – helping ensure that families and communities have the resources needed to stay healthy in the long-term.

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