As soon as the villagers of Wunlang built their school and clinic – with grant and management support from Village Help for South Sudan – the facilities have been used steadily for local operations as well as other groups and organizations that need a central, secure location for their programs. We were not surprised, therefore, but indeed delighted to hear this week that the clinic is now the base of operations for an organization distributing mosquito nets to the village of Wunlang and the vast remote area around it. All 12 “bomas” (villages) in Wunlang Payam (county sub-division), will reduce their malaria rates by using mosquito nets distributed from Wunlang Clinic!

Although Wunlang is a remote rural village in South Sudan, it is at the center of a vast area of long-time residents as well as thousands of returnees – people who fled their homes many years ago to escape the war who are now returning to take up residence once again in their homeland now mostly at peace as an independent country.

Statistics showing illnesses people are suffering from that bring them to a clinic are sad, but we are grateful that our grant support has enabled the clinic to provide the treatments for the month of April shown in this report to the Ministry of Health.

See more pictures from the Wunlang Clinic here..

A local citizen has returned to the village after receiving training and working as a nurse for a large international humanitarian aid organization. The community has selected him to run the small clinic. Here our field manager assists him in stocking medical supplies at the Wunlang Clinic.

When the program is fully implemented, patients will pay small fees for treatment to help sustain operations.

Midwife kits donated from St. Paul Lutheran Church in Arlington have also arrived in Wunlang. Here they are shown in bags after the original boxes were damaged in transit, and they had to be re-packaged in Juba. The kits are now in storage at the clinic and will be distributed as needed to delivering moms and their newborns.

Midwife kits are shelved with other supplies and medicines in the Wunlang Clinic dispensary.

Angong, our Program Coordinator and an experienced health worker, will provide training to the women of Wunlang to ensure the kits are used effectively. This is a picture of the the training session for the last shipment from St. Paul’s.

Our friends at St. Paul Lutheran Church have supported Wunlang village in South Sudan for several years, starting with our Wunlang School project. Last year St. Paul’s coordinated fundraising and assembly for midwife kits for the Wunlang Health Center.

We are all happy to hear the news of the arrival of midwife kits (shipped several months ago) in Juba. Our Field Manager, Yel Maduok, is coordinating delivery of the kits to the women of Wunlang to help support safe deliveries and care for newborns.
Wunlang’s Traditional Birth Attendants have spoken passionately about the importance of the midwife kits and their appreciation for this gift.

A midwife kit includes a sheet, receiving blanket, towel, washcloth, soap, latex gloves, razor blade, and twine. The materials were laid out on tables for assembly. This year’s fundraiser generated 400 kits.

Each kit was sealed in a plastic bag, and the bags were boxed for shipping – by ocean and ground transportation – for their long journey to Wunlang.

When the shipment finally reaches Wunlang, our Program Coordinator, Angong Athian, will lead another workshop for the TBAs to learn about the midwife kits and their generous and compassionate friends at St. Paul’s.