The Rotary Club of Osborne Park has supplied used but fully functional equipment to Mary Help Maternal and Child Friendly Hospital in Wau, South Sudan.  South Sudan is one of the poorest countries in the world. It was originally part of Egypt, has the famous river Nile running through it and has many ethnic groups with as many as 50 different languages amongst its population.
 
 
In a country where 90 percent of the population earn less than one dollar per day, every fifth child dies before its fifth birthday.  The appalling conditions under which sick people were treated, on the floor, in a bench or with up to three people in a bed, led Sister Gracy Adichirayil to instigate construction of the Catholic hospital.  Construction of the first stage of the hospital was completed in 2016 and second stage in 2018.
The hospital, like most in this very poor country, has very little equipment.  There are no CT Scanners or MRI machines in the entire country of South Sudan, the nearest ones for those who can afford it are located in Khartoum, Nairobi, Kampala, lndia or Egypt.  The equipment we have supplied, including hospital gowns, gloves, instruments, hospital beds, patient examination beds, crutches, Zimmer frames, monitors, etc., has been greatly appreciated.
 
The cost of sending containers to South Sudan at $15,000 is very high as the container is non-returnable.  It must be purchased and shipped to Mombasa in Kenya, then transported by road, which takes at least a month, to then reach this landlocked country.
 
 
Father Sam, who has lived and worked in South Sudan for some 11 years and helped establish the Mary Help College of Nursing and Midwifery, is our contact for this project and has spoken to the Club about conditions there.  He advised that malaria and tsetse fly disease, that can cause blindness, are 2 of the most prevalent diseases.   The civil war in Sudan has left many children without parents so they have set up an orphanage for the children who have survived.  They provide food for up to 400 children a day as well as basic schooling.
 
 
Our Rotary Club has donated two batches of equipment to the Hospital and contributed to the cost of shipping the equipment to South Sudan.