Saving South Sudan’s Youngest Lives
St. Theresa Mission Hospital Fights for Mothers and Children
“I didn’t think I would survive.”
Nyakuor walked for miles to reach medical help in the middle of labor. She was nine months pregnant, but she knew something was wrong. She was in excruciating pain and felt dizzy and weak. She had delivered children before, but this was very different.
Nyakuor felt certain she would die on the way to get help. But she reached critical help just in time. With the proper medical support, she survived and was able to deliver a healthy baby girl.
Without maternity care, mothers often give birth in unsafe conditions, causing one of the world’s highest death rates in childbirth.
Providing Care For Mothers and Children
Maternity care is far too rare in South Sudan. But St. Theresa Mission Hospital Nzara is working to change that with your help, protecting mothers and children by providing access to much needed healthcare that is otherwise absent in this vast region.
The state of health care in South Sudan is tragic. Currently there is only one doctor for every 65,000 people. It remains the world’s poorest nation with extremely limited infrastructure. Dr. Charles Taban, an obstetrician and gynecologist who also serves as the hospital’s medical director, reached out to Sudan Relief Fund to share urgent needs the hospital is facing – resulting from the combined crises of a cholera epidemic, widespread hunger, violent conflicts, and a surge of over a million refugees putting heavy demand on hospitals.
You can help St. Theresa Mission Hospital meet its overwhelming demand by supporting their Safe Motherhood Program and the Graham Pediatric Ward, which are saving lives and preventing deadly outcomes every day. One of the most effective ways to help is to become a monthly donor, which enables consistent support for the hospital as it strives to meet the incredible ongoing need.
Named in honor of St. Teresa of Avila, a Doctor of the Catholic Church whose life was marked by perseverance, prayer, and bold leadership in difficult times, St. Theresa Mission Hospital Nzara stands as a bastion of hope for more than half a million people. There is nowhere else to go for critical treatment for hundreds of miles.
The hospital treats a multitude of illnesses common to the region that are otherwise deadly, performs surgeries, provides safe maternity care, and even offers periodic eye clinics, an absolute rarity in this region. With the shocking infant mortality rate in South Sudan, the need for intensive care for babies is immense. The hospital is currently expanding to add a neo-natal ICU wing to provide critical care for babies and save more lives.
Urgent Need for Maternity Care
1 out of 18 women will die in pregnancy or childbirth in South Sudan – an appalling figure that ranks as one of the worst in the world. Many mothers give birth in unclean or unsafe conditions. St. Theresa is striving to change that through the Safe Motherhood Project, providing vital maternity care throughout pregnancy and a safe, sterile, medically supervised environment to have a baby. This program is fighting to meet a crucial need to protect mothers and infants.
1 in 10 children will die in South Sudan before their fifth birthday, but many would be saved if they simply had medical care.
Urgent Need for Medical Care for Children
An astonishing 70 percent of patients coming through the doors of St. Theresa Mission Hospital right now are children under age five. The child mortality rate in South Sudan is one of the highest in the world. 1 in 10 children here won’t see their fifth birthday. This is in large part due to woeful access to health care in their early years. Many of these children wouldn’t die if they just had access to simple treatment. Malaria, cholera, typhoid, dysentery – some of the main killers – are curable with timely care.
“70 percent of patients who come through the hospital’s doors are children under age 5”
St. Theresa Mission Hospital recently opened a new Graham Pediatric Ward to reach more young lives in need and respond to the ever increasing demand. This improvement only happened because of your support. But the need for children’s medical care remains immense.
Malaria claims thousands of children’s lives every year in South Sudan. On a recent visit, our Senior Vice President Matt Smith was astonished to find that 89 percent of the children at the hospital were being treated for malaria.
Malaria is curable if prompt treatment is received. St. Theresa Hospital is committed to preventing these child deaths. Sustainable giving partners ensure there is always antimalarial medication and treatment available when needed.
Regina’s Son’s Life Hung in the Balance
With skyrocketing numbers of children needing treatment, having medical care available means the difference between life and death. Regina’s story is one example. Her five-year-old son Juma suddenly started vomiting and having severe diarrhea. Knowing the risks with cholera outbreaks, she rushed him for treatment. She described her terror. “When I thought my child was going to die, I wanted to die. I was so scared.” With timely intervention, young Juma was treated for cholera and recovered. The fact he had medical care within reach saved his life.
“When I thought my child was going to die, I wanted to die.”
Juma’s recovery highlights how timely treatment can save lives. But gaps in supplies of crucial medicine can lead to tragic outcomes. This is where monthly support makes all the difference in saving lives.
The Safe Motherhood Project at St. Theresa Hospital is the only source of maternity care for hundreds of miles.
A Mother’s Critical Infection After Delivery
In childbirth with two lives at stake, maternity care is crucial. Nama had delivered her previous child at home. “I remember very well two weeks after the birth of my child… I almost lost my life. But God was faithful. I survived. When I went to the hospital later, I was told I had infections after delivery. The doctor said it happens when delivery is done in a non-clean environment.”
‘’Just like many other women, I delivered at home because of a lack of knowledge on the importance of going to a health facility for skilled delivery.”
Her story illustrates the difference programs like the Safe Motherhood Project make in this remote part of the world to turn around tragic mortality statistics. Your support is making this happen. But many more mothers still need this crucial care. Sustainable giving assures safe medical care in pregnancy and delivery will be available.
More than 70 percent of St. Theresa’s hospital beds are filled with children. The need for pediatric care is immense.
Becoming a monthly supporter of St. Theresa Mission Hospital Nzara through regular giving provides a sustainable source for the Safe Motherhood Project and the increasingly needed Graham Pediatric Ward – without gaps or delays in supplies and resources. It’s crucial when mothers and children arrive in need of critical care that treatment is available immediately. Minutes count as lives wait in the balance.
Sudan Relief Fund is humbled and grateful for the steadfast, faithful giving partners already supporting the Graham Pediatric Ward and the Safe Motherhood Project – programs that are putting an end to preventable deaths and making healthcare available to people who have suffered without it. If you have not joined this mission yet to save lives and stop the world’s highest rate of preventable deaths among mothers and children, we gratefully ask you to consider making a commitment.
Your support is their miracle. Please become a sustaining partner with your monthly gift today.
PS – The Safe Motherhood Project and Graham Pediatric Ward at St. Theresa Mission Hospital play a critical role in stopping the shocking number of deaths of mothers and children in South Sudan. Your sustainable gift helps us turn those tragedies around and ensures help will be there when mothers and children need it most.
