Ouida (Good Morning) Everyone!
I hope you are all doing well. I was blessed this past week to receive a clean bill of health from the doctor and will not have to deal with Hepatitis A again. It has been nice to resume normal exercise and other activities, including the availability to travel and share about South Sudan.
I often reflect on how as an American, I take health for granted. Here we have medical aid a cellphone call or short ride away. The common illnesses which affect us on a daily basis are the flu and the stomach bug. The options for medicine are abundant and can be available anytime of the day or night. We should be very thankful!
The stark contrast is clearly seen in third world Africa. The seriousness of the common diseases, such as Typhoid, Yellow Fever, Hepatitis (Both A and B) and Malaria were both felt and seen by myself. In four months time I would contract
Malaria at least twice and was more seriously ill than I have ever been. In a two week period, eight different individuals from our village in South Sudan had Malaria or a combination of that with Typhoid!
There was an incredibly sad and sobering occurrence which illustrates this great need. I became buddies with seven or eight year old Wani. I spent many afternoons practicing my futball skills, trying to keep up with my South Sudanese
friends, who are all world class soccer players. During these practice sessions Wani would come along and I found that he could play circles around me! Along with his younger brothers, we would often play together and I so enjoyed his energy and enthusiasm. He was a hardworking little boy and very active in the Church's choir and also loved Jesus.
In the month of December I heard that little Wani had come down with what they thought was Malaria. His family struggled to get the proper tests and were only able to treat it cheaply, as a mild case. Two days later little Wani was deathly ill and rushed to the hospital 45 kilometers south. Coming back from a futball match one evening, my friend Gabriel told me the awful news. At the hospital, they discovered the illness was yellow fever and by then it was too late. He died three days after succumbing to the disease. It really broke my heart.
Funerals in South Sudan are very long and require a lot of formal family discussions over arrangements, many lasting over a week. Extended family members and friends will camp out for several days. I felt deeply for the mother who was continually reminded of the loss by an African grieving tradition. Every time any woman approached the grave to sympathize, she would give a piercing, sobbing wail. Many people showed up a week after the burial and those expressions of grief must have been very hard for Wani's mother to hear continually.
In 2005, Operation Nehemiah established a Medical Clinic in Borongole. Over the years we had three different doctors trained and who worked there for a short while, but eventually were all drawn elsewhere. At the time of this sad event, our clinic had been unmanned and unequipped for the needs there. The nearest clinic was a mile away and had only limited resources.
The importance of having free diagnostic testing for common diseases and emergency medical care in our village is vital. One of the thrusts of the coming March thru May trip will be to get the clinic established and running. Already three men from the village have been sent to receive month long medical training and will help start up the medical care under the eye of the public health officer by April. With guidance from the Lord and much prayer, we are committed to keeping our community from giving up needed medical assistance because of poverty or want. No one should die of yellow fever!
Please pray for:
1. For this coming trip, as are looking to supply them with Rapid Diagnostic Kits, a Microscope for testing, medicines and First Responder/First Aid supplies from the United States.
2. We also need to replace our ambulance in order to provide transportation to the regional hospital for those requiring critical care. Our ambulance, purchased in 2003, is no longer road worthy. We want to purchase an “E-Ranger” (Motorcycle with sidecar) from South Africa. 80% of the people in Eastern Equatoria live in remote areas with no roads. An E- Ranger vehicle would provide accessibility to these areas, enabling us to provide them with on-site emergency care and transportation.
Thank you for your support and prayers! "... pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much." James 5:16
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