Perspective
Before departing for a first mission with MSF people have to complete a PPD (Preparation for Primary Departure) course. This involves eight days of intensive preparation on issues such as team...
View ArticleDifficult Choices
Nyakor * is back in our clinic, again. Her appearance is pitiful; thin, short wiry hair, tattered old clothes. She says she is about 23 years old, her son Chiang * is 4 months old and is losing weight...
View ArticleNuoih - part 1
The reason for our work here in Bentiu is to decrease mortality and alleviate suffering caused by an on-going malnutrition crisis. According to our statistics this year we have already ‘cured’ over...
View ArticleNuoih - part 2
I have been trying to get an idea about people’s beliefs on the reasons for malnutrition here in South Sudan and having already asked the clinic staff for their opinions , I ask some of the mothers in...
View ArticleNo home to go to
Kaderia * doesn’t know how old she is. As she tells me her story I try to guess her age, she looks about fifty but perhaps her difficult life has made her age quicker. As she talks her face betrays a...
View ArticleChristmas in Bentiu
As Christmas drew close I began to wonder what it would be like here in South Sudan. I thought it wouldn’t be a big deal in a place where most people live to day-to-day and can’t afford to make...
View ArticleKala azar and the long road back to Bentiu
From the air South Sudan looks calm, peaceful, almost empty. Even now after the rains have finished much of the flat countryside looks green and lush, being taken up by the vast swampy wetlands of the...
View ArticleThe Traditional Way
I have only a few weeks left on my mission in Bentiu. Numbers in our nutrition programme have decreased over the last few months, which is a good thing. Nonetheless, the team are still busy as our...
View ArticleFinal Call from South Sudan
Nine months have passed since I first arrived in South Sudan and it’s almost time to go home. It seems I have have spent the last few days constantly typing - staff evaluations, January’s medical...
View ArticleWorld TB Day: a difficult journey
Ernazor is 58, but looks much older. He has a haggard appearance, is short of breath on the slightest exertion and his feet bear the hallmarks of peripheral vascular disease.Read more
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