A flying medical team changes children's lives
In South Sudan, children with disabilities are often stigmatised and hidden away. In remote regions especially, medical help is entirely absent. Thanks to MAF, medical teams reach such villages and treat young patients in mobile hospitals.
The situation in South Sudan is dire: more than half of all children are affected by malnutrition, illness and inadequate medical care. Decades of conflict and chronic underdevelopment have led to this crisis. The health system is in a desperate state: hospitals, medicines and trained staff are lacking across the country. Weak infrastructure, and the sparse road network in particular, makes rapid help difficult. Many roads are also impassable, especially during the rainy season.
In this difficult situation, MAF provides valuable help alongside the flying medical team of the CURE Children's Hospital in Kenya. The medical team consists of two doctors, a physiotherapist, an orthopaedic technologist, a coordinator and a pastor. With MAF they travel safely and quickly from the Kenyan capital Nairobi to the South Sudanese towns of Lodwar and Lokichar. "Travelling by car would be disproportionately expensive, dangerous and time-consuming. A nine-hour drive would have massively reduced the time we had available to see patients," explains Elvis Lemaiyan, communications officer at CURE.
On board, alongside the medical team, is medical equipment for the consultations and follow-up care. In the mobile hospitals, children are treated within two days for a wide range of conditions – from cleft lip and palate to club feet, knock knees, bow legs and burn scar contractures, through to cerebral palsy.
Local health workers and pastors play an important role in preparing for these visits. They tell families in good time that the medical team is coming. Together with other volunteers they also help set up the mobile hospital and organise meals. That way the CURE Children's Hospital team can focus entirely on caring for the young patients.
Operations are not possible on site, but children with more complex cases are referred for surgery to the CURE Children's Hospital in Kijabe, Kenya. Dr Kazadi Samuel, one of the doctors, reports: "We examined 60 children in total. Five of them need an operation and will be referred to Kijabe. I want to thank MAF – for their commitment and for the hope they bring to these villages."
The work of MAF and the flying medical team changes not only lives but attitudes. In villages that have been visited several times, perceptions of disability have shifted for the better. Families no longer hide their children with disabilities but bring them for treatment – a sign of growing trust.
MAF pilot Joost de Wit is impressed too: "It was my first mission with the CURE Children's Hospital team. It is moving to see the positive effect our work has on people here." The CURE Children's Hospital team is already planning follow-up care for the children and expects to return to these villages next year. Joost de Wit: "I am already looking forward to flying the team again."
