Here is this blogger's favorite photo from the latest update on Wunlang Health Clinic construction:
Angelo Ngong Kiir was settled in Syracuse, New York, as one of the Lost Boys of Sudan. Now the field director of Village Help for South Sudan, he's back giving back to his community, a place where the big NGOs don't go. His upward glance at the newly rising roof of Wunlang Health Clinic says a lot about rising hope.
Here's another favorite, a little harder to see:
The man in the hat with his back to the camera is holding a handsaw. There's lots of talk in the NGO world about local empowerment; we do it with every project. All our workers are from South Sudan. Not only do we provide paying jobs, but the on-the-job training workers get enables them to make even further progress in their lives. The worker is talking to our field manager Yel Maduok Ngor. Yel has told us many times that he has learned so much about running a successful project from his work with Village Help for South Sudan.
The clinic is an elegant little building.
What's even more remarkable is that it's locally designed. Yel and our carpenter visited an attractive new building in Aweil, walked around, made their observations, and from that designed Wunlang Clinic themselves. We know the presence of a big-name architect can be impressive on a project. But we are much, much happier to give the abundant local talent an opportunity to flourish.
We hear that word is getting out that Wunlang will have a "modern clinic." ("We must get those latrines built!" treasurer Ron Moulton wrote.) We know the people of Wunlang have plans for it already -- to set up training for the arriving midwife kits, and to make sure that medical supplies provided by the Ministry of Health and UNICEF reach the clinic. They are advising nurse Arkangelo Diet and Dr. Luka on the progress of the clinic, and when the time comes, to work with the medical staff on clinic hours. As the roof goes up, so much more is rising, too.
Angelo Ngong Kiir was settled in Syracuse, New York, as one of the Lost Boys of Sudan. Now the field director of Village Help for South Sudan, he's back giving back to his community, a place where the big NGOs don't go. His upward glance at the newly rising roof of Wunlang Health Clinic says a lot about rising hope.
Here's another favorite, a little harder to see:
The man in the hat with his back to the camera is holding a handsaw. There's lots of talk in the NGO world about local empowerment; we do it with every project. All our workers are from South Sudan. Not only do we provide paying jobs, but the on-the-job training workers get enables them to make even further progress in their lives. The worker is talking to our field manager Yel Maduok Ngor. Yel has told us many times that he has learned so much about running a successful project from his work with Village Help for South Sudan.
The clinic is an elegant little building.
What's even more remarkable is that it's locally designed. Yel and our carpenter visited an attractive new building in Aweil, walked around, made their observations, and from that designed Wunlang Clinic themselves. We know the presence of a big-name architect can be impressive on a project. But we are much, much happier to give the abundant local talent an opportunity to flourish.
We hear that word is getting out that Wunlang will have a "modern clinic." ("We must get those latrines built!" treasurer Ron Moulton wrote.) We know the people of Wunlang have plans for it already -- to set up training for the arriving midwife kits, and to make sure that medical supplies provided by the Ministry of Health and UNICEF reach the clinic. They are advising nurse Arkangelo Diet and Dr. Luka on the progress of the clinic, and when the time comes, to work with the medical staff on clinic hours. As the roof goes up, so much more is rising, too.
Thanks to some generous donors, we have been able to send funds over to field director Angelo Ngong Kiir, and he reports that roofing and door and window installation have begun. We're very relieved that the roofing can be finished before the rainy season starts.
But our four latrines remain unfunded. We would not build a clinic without latrines. On the contrary, we expect Wunlang Health Clinic to be a model of public health and sanitation. In discussing the realities of the rainy season, the board agreed to release funds for the roof and to continue to pursue funds for the latrines.
As we blogged back in 2008 when the latrines for Wunlang School were built, latrines contribute not only to the health of the community but to the dignity of all, especially women, and even visitors.
So this summer, when you flush, when you are looking for the good place to go while camping, remember Wunlang Health Clinic, and think what contribution you can make to the health and well-being of the people of South Sudan.
But our four latrines remain unfunded. We would not build a clinic without latrines. On the contrary, we expect Wunlang Health Clinic to be a model of public health and sanitation. In discussing the realities of the rainy season, the board agreed to release funds for the roof and to continue to pursue funds for the latrines.
As we blogged back in 2008 when the latrines for Wunlang School were built, latrines contribute not only to the health of the community but to the dignity of all, especially women, and even visitors.
So this summer, when you flush, when you are looking for the good place to go while camping, remember Wunlang Health Clinic, and think what contribution you can make to the health and well-being of the people of South Sudan.
Shipping things by ocean takes time, of course, but we are excited that the midwife kits donated by St. Paul Lutheran Church of Arlington will leave the dock in Boston Harbor tonight.
Gentle Giant donated the boxes, and their shipping labels are addressed to Board member Jackson Garang Ajou in Juba. The kits will arrive in Juba in September, and from there Jackson will arrange to have them transported to the clinic in Wunlang.
This has been a wonderful team effort, and we are so grateful to our precious friends at St. Paul's for making this precious gift to the Wunlang Village Clinic for delivering moms and their precious newborns.
Gentle Giant donated the boxes, and their shipping labels are addressed to Board member Jackson Garang Ajou in Juba. The kits will arrive in Juba in September, and from there Jackson will arrange to have them transported to the clinic in Wunlang.
This has been a wonderful team effort, and we are so grateful to our precious friends at St. Paul's for making this precious gift to the Wunlang Village Clinic for delivering moms and their precious newborns.
St. Paul Lutheran Church in Arlington has been an early and constant supporter of Village Help for South Sudan. and we were delighted when we learned we would be the recipients of their annual midwife kit assembly.
Members of St. Paul's walked up and down the church hall tables, packaging kits containing a towel, washcloth, and a bedsheet for the mother in labor, a receiving blanket, T-shirt, and hat for the newborn baby, and soap, gloves, a razor, and ties for the umbilical cord for the midwife.
It was a very organized affair, with all the components -- such as the cord ties and razors -- packaged ahead of time.
Then the kits were packed for shipping.
With many hands, about 250 kits were assembled in half an hour!
New VHSS member board member Tara Rao helped ...
... as did Diane Martin, whose husband, our treasurer Ron Moulton, is in the background.
But we're especially grateful to the good people of St. Paul's of all ages whose work will save the lives and health of mothers and babies in Wunlang.
Members of St. Paul's walked up and down the church hall tables, packaging kits containing a towel, washcloth, and a bedsheet for the mother in labor, a receiving blanket, T-shirt, and hat for the newborn baby, and soap, gloves, a razor, and ties for the umbilical cord for the midwife.
It was a very organized affair, with all the components -- such as the cord ties and razors -- packaged ahead of time.
Then the kits were packed for shipping.
With many hands, about 250 kits were assembled in half an hour!
New VHSS member board member Tara Rao helped ...
... as did Diane Martin, whose husband, our treasurer Ron Moulton, is in the background.
But we're especially grateful to the good people of St. Paul's of all ages whose work will save the lives and health of mothers and babies in Wunlang.
05/30: Will You Raise the Roof?
Our last blog entry showed the construction workers of Wunlang Clinic walking on the roof beams as they readied the building for the roof trusses. They're still waiting. Field director Angelo Ngong Kiir has sent us the latest expense report for this project, and we are about $10,000 short.
Our treasurer, Ron Moulton, writes, "This is an urgent need, since clinic construction work has stopped until more money is available to pay for the remaining materials (including the roof) and the labor to finish the project. Although we are short of money, the total cost is still very reasonable for the benefit the village will gain from this clinic." And we are very close to finishing this project, a three-room clinic whose total cost will be $60,000. Even though we build in a remote area, our construction costs are always reasonable. Our field staff bargains hard to get the best prices from local workers, even as we strive to provide local employment at fair wages.
You can make your donation via our web site. We use Wainwright Bank's on-line system, and every penny goes to us. You can also designate where your donation will go.
Paper checks still work, too! Please make your check payable to Village Help for South Sudan and put "Wunlang Clinic" in the memo line.
Our mailing address is:
Village Help for South Sudan, Inc.
P. O. Box 8067
Lynn, MA 01904
You can make the difference. You can raise the roof.
Our treasurer, Ron Moulton, writes, "This is an urgent need, since clinic construction work has stopped until more money is available to pay for the remaining materials (including the roof) and the labor to finish the project. Although we are short of money, the total cost is still very reasonable for the benefit the village will gain from this clinic." And we are very close to finishing this project, a three-room clinic whose total cost will be $60,000. Even though we build in a remote area, our construction costs are always reasonable. Our field staff bargains hard to get the best prices from local workers, even as we strive to provide local employment at fair wages.
You can make your donation via our web site. We use Wainwright Bank's on-line system, and every penny goes to us. You can also designate where your donation will go.
Paper checks still work, too! Please make your check payable to Village Help for South Sudan and put "Wunlang Clinic" in the memo line.
Our mailing address is:
Village Help for South Sudan, Inc.
P. O. Box 8067
Lynn, MA 01904
You can make the difference. You can raise the roof.
05/19: Raising the Roof
Look carefully at these latest photos of our clinic construction and you'll see men walking where they usually don't.
That's because the beams have been placed across the top of the finished walls and are ready for the roof trusses.
On the ground, progress is being made, too.
Field director Angelo Ngong Kiir regularly sends us, along with these photos, expense reports, with all workers' wages listed. We're building a clinic for the future by providing local jobs now. The gap between the end of last year's harvest and the beginning of this year's is a hungry, painful time. Wage earners can buy the sacks of grain their families need. Just by building the clinic, we've raised the nutrition standards for several Wunlang families.
That's because the beams have been placed across the top of the finished walls and are ready for the roof trusses.
On the ground, progress is being made, too.
Field director Angelo Ngong Kiir regularly sends us, along with these photos, expense reports, with all workers' wages listed. We're building a clinic for the future by providing local jobs now. The gap between the end of last year's harvest and the beginning of this year's is a hungry, painful time. Wage earners can buy the sacks of grain their families need. Just by building the clinic, we've raised the nutrition standards for several Wunlang families.
The BBC recently reported on the return of refugees and internally displaced people to the village of Mathiang Dit not far from Wunlang. Returnees have put tremendous strain on villages in southern Sudan because the limited resources are simply not sufficient even for the communities before the influx of returnees. We have seen that in Wunlang where the 3 water pumps are very inadequate for the population. Construction on the Wunlang Clinic has been stopped several times because of a lack of water. With water, of course, people and animals take priority over construction needs, but every day the clinic construction is delayed extends the project another day in the timeline of delivering critical health care to the people of Wunlang.
In spite of these hardships, however, the pictures we received this week show great progress. The team of local builders and laborers are working hard to complete the walls and install the roof before the seasonal rains present water challenges of the other extreme.
In spite of these hardships, however, the pictures we received this week show great progress. The team of local builders and laborers are working hard to complete the walls and install the roof before the seasonal rains present water challenges of the other extreme.
03/29: Clinic construction progress
The foundation has been dug:
The bricks have been sorted:
The cement has arrived ...
... and has been offloaded:
Soon we'll be seeing those walls going up!
The bricks have been sorted:
The cement has arrived ...
... and has been offloaded:
Soon we'll be seeing those walls going up!
03/13: Food and Good Health
Some things are so basic they are easily overlooked. This is true for food and hunger when it comes to delivering healthcare services in the developing world. When AIDS treatment in Africa ramped up – even as recently as with the billions of dollars pledged by the U. S. and other countries in this millennium – the emphasis was on providing low-cost drugs and establishing medical clinics. What doctors have discovered, however, is that drugs make little difference (or may actually make matters worse) for sufferers who are hungry. Food support and sustainable agriculture programs are essential to good health.
Village Help for South Sudan is supporting the villagers of Wunlang to construct and operate a small health center. Just as a building by itself will not improve people’s health, neither will the provision of medicines and a trained staff make a difference if the people of Wunlang continue to suffer from the lack of food. Here’s what a recent BBC article reported: “The number of people needing food aid in south Sudan has quadrupled in a year to more than four million...”
This is why we take a holistic approach in our village healthcare support. At the same time we fund the construction of the health center, we are seeking funds for the Wunlang School’s farm which will not only help keep the children and staff healthy, but will also keep the kids in school and train some of them in the most important vocational pursuit: agriculture.
On my January visit to Sudan, I met a man named Garang Mou. He heads up the Wunlang Farmers Association. The farmers are trying to increase production to address the food needs of Wunlang. One component of their cooperative will be the School farm to be developed on this land.
Village Help for South Sudan is supporting the villagers of Wunlang to construct and operate a small health center. Just as a building by itself will not improve people’s health, neither will the provision of medicines and a trained staff make a difference if the people of Wunlang continue to suffer from the lack of food. Here’s what a recent BBC article reported: “The number of people needing food aid in south Sudan has quadrupled in a year to more than four million...”This is why we take a holistic approach in our village healthcare support. At the same time we fund the construction of the health center, we are seeking funds for the Wunlang School’s farm which will not only help keep the children and staff healthy, but will also keep the kids in school and train some of them in the most important vocational pursuit: agriculture.
On my January visit to Sudan, I met a man named Garang Mou. He heads up the Wunlang Farmers Association. The farmers are trying to increase production to address the food needs of Wunlang. One component of their cooperative will be the School farm to be developed on this land.
We want to help the Wunlang Farmers Association achieve its goals. They absolutely need to be successful. The lives and health of Wunlang villagers depend on the yields of their farms. In fact, organizations like Garang Mou’s are needed all over South Sudan, and sustainable community-based agriculture will be a strong focus of Village Help for South Sudan.
02/10: Brick by brick by brick
Ron has brought back lots photos and video from his trip to Sudan, and we're editing as fast as we can. Here is a video that you'll find on our YouTube channel featuring the brickmakers of Wunlang Clinic.
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Shot by Angelo Ngong Kiir, it's terrific -- workers singing a love song as they haul mud, manure being chopped, bricks being mixed and dried. The rows and rows of bricks you see will soon stand as a clinic. Be sure to follow our progress.
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Shot by Angelo Ngong Kiir, it's terrific -- workers singing a love song as they haul mud, manure being chopped, bricks being mixed and dried. The rows and rows of bricks you see will soon stand as a clinic. Be sure to follow our progress.
