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FROM THE FIELD

An Oasis for Health Care in South Sudan
25 Nov 2009 17:39:00 GMT
 Source: Merlin - USA
Alex Cottin, Regional Director, Merlin USA

Website: Website: http://www.merlin-usa.org

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The resident expert on sleeping sickness at Nimule Hospital in South Sudan, Elizeous Izama Surur also oversees the treatment of severely malnourished children.
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The resident expert on sleeping sickness at Nimule Hospital in South Sudan, Elizeous Izama Surur also oversees the treatment of severely malnourished children.
Alex Cottin

Background

•  African hunger

•  Food and hunger

•  Sudan conflicts

•  E. African hunger

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"Today is your lucky day," Elizeous Izama Surur tells me, prepping a patient who was just about to undergo the dreadful "lumbar puncture." Like a spinal tap, a delicate procedure that draws fluid from the patient's back, it is the only way to accurately test for trypanosomiasis, better known as "sleeping sickness."

A clinical officer at the 180-bed Nimule Hospital, Elizeous, 46, is also the resident expert on sleeping sickness, a neglected and often fatal tropical disease that attacks the central nervous system.

This makes him a bit of a rarity in South Sudan, where the health system, which was limited to begin with, was further gutted by 20 years of civil war. Prolonged conflict doesn't foster many medical experts of any kind. And many who have the chance, leave. Elizeous, who began his education in a Ugandan refugee camp, is exceptional for a number of reasons and that's why I decided to spend the day shadowing him. ......

The hospital is much like Nimule itself: an oasis where life flourishes, offering refuge and healing, surrounded by a vast, harsh and desolate void. It is the only hospital for miles, drawing people over the border from Uganda. One woman I met trekked over 150 kilometers over three days, carrying her sick child in the blistering heat. She was seeking the free health care the hospital provided, one of two Merlin, a global medical aid organization, has supported since 2004.

I soon discovered that lumbar punctures and sleeping sickness are just the start of what the day has in store for Elizeous. Never losing his big laugh, he also wears many hats, doing rounds on each ward and often sought out for consultation by other doctors and clinical staff.

In the pediatric ward the day gains momentum. Each bed is filled with severely to extremely malnourished children, and many suffer from other complications: high fever, vomiting and dehydration. Most symptoms pointed to malaria. I tried to connect with the kids and make them laugh while handing out candy I had brought over with me. It seemed like a tiny drop of sweetness falling into a bucket overflowing with pain and illness.

I think about the health care debate raging in the US. Try to find all the doctors, nurses and health workers needed to provide basic health in South Sudan and suddenly you get a little perspective.

South Sudan has seen it all: two debilitating wars, mass dislocation of the population, drought and famine. Now, just as the region begins rebuilding itself, the upcoming elections have brought uncertainty, instability and the prospect of more violence. Elizeous could have easily escaped, taking his wife and two daughters with him, to find better, more financially rewarding prospects. But he didn't. He told me he wanted to translate the opportunities he had into opportunities his family, friends and compatriots didn't have.

"I knew what I could do was needed more here," he said.

Elizeous has aspirations for his own daughters, who he hopes will be come doctors in their own right. "We need to undo the damage of the war, stay here and give back to the community what so many unjustly lack - basic health care."

There's a Sudanese proverb that sums Elizeous' dedication to his country quite well: "If our feet leave the earth we no longer live in peace."


[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

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Topics

•  Children

•  Food and hunger

•  Media & Humanitarianism

•  Refugees & displacement

•  Working in Relief

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Emergencies

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•  E. African hunger

•  Sudan conflicts

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[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

Background information

Briefings
African hunger - [Who works where]
E. African hunger - [Who works where]
Sudan conflicts - [Who works where]

Topics
Children Feature Food and hunger Media & Humanitarianism Refugees & displacement Working in Relief
Facts & figures
Sudan
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Last updated:Wed Nov 25 17:48:05 2009