New Clinic Marks New Beginning
Four-year-old Bosco Oliha was wrestling with his brother at home when he tumbled to the floor and fractured his leg. His father, Sarlino, carried him about nine miles to the new health care center in the South Sudan community of Keyala.
"Before this center, I would have to treat him at home with tree bark, tying this on his leg for two weeks and using warm water," Sarlino says.
The Keyala Healthcare Center provides southern Sudanese essential health services at no charge.
Prior to the opening of the Keyala Healthcare Center in November 2006, people had to seek treatment from traditional healers or walk a day or more to the closest hospital. The new clinic is part of the Recovery and Rehabilitation Program, a three-year initiative that Catholic Relief Services helps to implement.
Rose, a mother of four from Haforiere, carried her 10-month-old baby, Sarfino, an hour and a half to the health center for malaria treatment.
"Before this health center, I had a baby who was sick with malaria and went to a fortuneteller who gave me herbs. My baby passed away," Rose says. At the center, Sarfino was treated with a quinine drip to fight the malaria and given fluids for his dehydration. "Already Sarfino is better today," Rose explains.
So far, more than 8,500 people have sought treatment from the local health care professionals on staff at the center. Most patients are seen for malaria, diarrhea, pneumonia and other respiratory infections. The pharmacy is stocked with essential medicines and vaccines, and the center offers immunization services and health education to the community.
Returning and Rebuilding
CRS has supported relief and development programs in war-torn Sudan since 1971. In addition to helping Sudanese resettle in the south, CRS is now also providing emergency food and services to 150,000 displaced people in Sudan's western region of Darfur.
In many communities in South Sudan, facilities are sorely lacking.
In the south, Sudan's 21 years of conflict have greatly limited the number of schools, clinics, banks and roads that could be built. This lack of infrastructure complicates and slows reconstruction, but people are beginning to move back. According to the United Nations, more than 950,000 people have returned to their homes since the signing of a peace agreement in January 2005.
"The communities we are serving were completely cut off from basic services during the war. Even now, only one road in the area is passable during the rainy season," explains Tracy O'Heir, a CRS program manager in South Sudan. "We're helping communities to identify their primary needs, design and implement projects, and learn how to manage them moving forward."
Funded by the European Commission and managed by the United Nations, the three-year Sudan Recovery and Rehabilitation Program will help 800,000 people in both the north and south. CRS serves as the lead agency for the initiative in the southern state of Eastern Equatoria. With international and church partners, CRS is helping to improve water access, health care, education, agriculture and job development for more than 63,000 community members and returnees.
"Working together to solve their difficult development problems, communities can pave the way for peace," says Tracy.
