A Healthier Future for South Sudan's Families

Each July 9^th, news headlines remind the world of South Sudan’s independence day. They remind us of the visions of hope which pulsed through the hearts of the South Sudanese people as they declared their sovereignty six years ago and they remind us of the cloud of South Sudan’s civil war, which now, after three years, continues to grow darker and push these visions further out of sight. But the people of South Sudan need no reminder. To them, the conflict and the humanitarian crisis it has caused is something they face every day.

Paulino and Imelda are two people working to address South Sudan’s challenges head on. As second-year students at the Wau Health Sciences Institute, currently run by International Medical Corps, they are training to save the lives of mothers and children by becoming midwives—the main caregivers for women and their newborns before, during and after pregnancy, labor and childbirth.

Paulino was forced to seek refuge in Uganda because of the conflict in South Sudan when he completed high school at 18. In 2013, he bravely decided to move back to further his education so he could begin a career as a midwife. “I hope I will make a difference in the field that is dominated by women and encourage more male midwives to join the profession,” he says.

Imelda had spent ten years working as a community health worker when she realized she wanted to make a bigger impact on her community. At 27 years old, she says, “I feel it is never too late to have a career.” Dedicated to becoming a midwife, she went back to school to take classes in biology, chemistry, and English in order to gain enrollment into the Wau Health Sciences Institute.

For both of them, the task of helping to repair South Sudan’s health care system will be a formidable one. Less than half of the country’s health facilities remain operational due to the conflict, exacerbating South Sudan’s already high maternal and infant mortality rates. The World Health Organization estimates that a mother in South Sudan faces a one-in-seven chance of dying in childbirth during her lifetime, and one-quarter of all children will die of preventable illnesses before they reach their fifth birthday.

These realities can be disheartening, but for those like Paulino and Imelda, it has sparked the desire to fight for a brighter future. According to the UN Population Fund, South Sudan had only eight registered midwives in 2011—today, there are 307. International Medical Corps has graduated 39 of them after reopening the Wau Health Sciences Institute following the war for independence in 2012 and is expecting 25 new first-year students to join the institute in the next academic year.

Since 2012, we have led efforts to develop school curricula, train faculty, and improve key infrastructure and equipment such as providing the students with 600 textbooks, computers, teaching aides such as mannequins and solar panels that give the facility a 24-hour power supply. With your support, more students will have the opportunity to join this new generation of South Sudanese midwives, helping to save the lives of mothers and children in the world’s youngest nation.

We thank the GlobalGiving community for their support as we train midwives in South Sudan towards the goal of reducing maternal and infant mortality.