IDAT’s hospital serves around 60,000 mothers & babies every year (credit: Jenny Davies)

Since 1999, ‘In Deed & Truth Ministries’ (IDAT) have been serving the remote people of Tonj in western South Sudan. MAF has been enabling the work of IDAT’s maternal hospital through its weekly shuttle service, which transports patients, lifesaving drugs, equipment and staff. MAF’s Jenny Davies reports.

IDAT’s ‘Noah’s Place Maternal Child Healthcare Hospital’ in isolated Tonj Town sees around 60,000 mothers and babies per year, presenting with every condition from upset stomach to severe malaria.

Around 200 patients are triaged every day at IDAT’s hospital (credit: Jenny Davies)

Babies have a range of conditions from upset stomach to malaria (credit: Jenny Davies)

Around 200 patients are triaged every day like Atiu’s baby who says her son is struggling with diarrhoea, vomiting and fever. After listening to his chest, he is diagnosed with a chest infection.

MAF is an integral part of IDAT’s work, transporting lifesaving equipment and drugs from the capital Juba including baby incubators, oxygen concentrators, antivenom and rabies treatments.

MAF’s a lifeline for IDAT, delivering medical supplies, patients & staff (credit: Jenny Davies)

Last year, MAF delivered nearly 2,700kg of cargo for IDAT and transported over 90 passengers including medical staff and patients.

Patients from the villages are medevacked by MAF to hospital in Tonj, but sometimes children need advanced treatment, including heart operations or cleft lip surgery. This cannot be carried out in South Sudan, so these patients are referred to neighbouring Kenya, made possible by MAF flights.

Many IDAT staff also use MAF to reach the hospital (credit: Jenny Davies)

Many staff use the shuttle service to reach the hospital. In fact, IDAT co-founder Suzy Kuj says the hospital wouldn’t be able to function without MAF:

‘We really couldn’t do it without MAF. The weekly MAF shuttle is a game changer for us. We rely on MAF for our resources and our medicine wouldn’t be here. It’s enabled our missionaries to be on the ground long term.

‘If we have patients, we can send them out without having to charter the entire plane. This has saved us a huge amount of money, which has enabled us to buy medicine and other things that we need. I love knowing that flight is going to be here every week.’

IDAT co-founder Suzy Kuj & MAF partner

Founder Suzy Kuj says: ‘We really couldn’t do it without MAF.’ (credit: Thorkild Jørgensen)

Lifesaving cargo

IDAT’s maternity hospital also acts as a distribution centre to other smaller IDAT-run clinics in the surrounding villages, so when MAF delivers lifesaving drugs to the hospital, other villages up to two hours away benefit too.

MAF’s precious cargo often includes snake anti-venom, which isn’t available in government-run hospitals because it’s so expensive. Most snake bite patients are children who step on puff adders and cobras hidden in the undergrowth. Without this lifesaving drug, children would die.

Rabies is also common in Tonj. When the wife of the hospital administrator was attacked by a rabid dog, she only survived because IDAT kept the medicine in stock. Without treatment – delivered by MAF – rabies would have killed her.

Vital vaccines are delivered by MAF (credit: Jenny Davies)

Up to 50 babies can be vaccinated in one day (credit: Jenny Davies)

Vaccines are also delivered by MAF.

At the hospital, mothers are encouraged to bring their babies for vaccinations. Clinical assistant Deng Bak is administering polio drops and measles vaccines. Deng runs through a typical day:

‘I have vaccinated 30 patients so far, but it’s still early. We will reach 40 or 50 in one day. We give vaccines for measles, diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus and hepatitis B.’

According to UNICEF, only 73% of children in South Sudan are vaccinated against killer childhood diseases – well below the rate needed to prevent outbreaks.

Medication flown in by MAF is carefully dispensed by IDAT’s team (credit: Jenny Davies)

Lifesaving antibiotics wouldn’t be stocked in the hospital without MAF.

Pharmacy assistants Ephraim Anyanya, John Chuol Bol and John Beek are counting antibiotics and making up prescriptions. Dispenser Moses Mayen explains the process:

‘The patients come here for their medicine. When the patient has a diagnosis, we write it down in the book.’

Everything is accounted for in a ledger, so they know exactly what to order when the stock runs low.

Call the midwife!

IDAT midwife Rebecca Karac delivered over 800 babies last year (credit: Jenny Davies)

Up to 10 women per day can give birth on the ward (credit: Jenny Davies)

IDAT midwife Rebecca Karac is one of the five-strong maternity team who helped deliver 803 babies and treated 10,800 pregnant women last year. She’s managing a hectic shift but loves her job. Her day is made easier by MAF’s medical deliveries:

‘We have two mothers in labour and one who just delivered – one has a high fever and the other is being tested for malaria. We can have five or six women giving birth in one day, but it can reach up to ten! Women like coming here!’

Baby Ngor only weighs 800 grams (credit: Jenny Davies)

A new mother Rebecca cradles her baby Ngor who weighs just 800 grams. Ngor’s twin sadly didn’t survive. Rebecca is scared:

‘I am worried because my baby is so small and getting sicker.’

In a more developed country, Ngor would be receiving round-the-clock care in a neo-natal unit. Here, she’s given the best care possible with equipment and supplies delivered by MAF – an incubator, oxygen-concentrator and medicine.

South Sudan has one of the worst maternal mortality rates in the world – 1,223 women out of 100,000 die from pregnancy related causes every year – more than twice the average in Sub- Saharan Africa (source: WHO).

Rebecca’s team carried out 500 blood transfusions last year, often caused by child-birth complications or malaria infections. Rebecca’s work – supported by MAF – saves lives:

‘We are really saving the mothers. Sometimes they come from the village with heavy bleeding. We rescue them and return them to normal. I am always happy to see this.’

A packed waiting room awaits IDAT hospital staff (credit: Jenny Davies)

Here’s to the next 25 years!

In the laboratory, William Deng pours over three blood samples with suspected malaria. He explains the process:

‘If the doctor thinks a child has malaria, he will send blood samples to the lab and we will check, but it’s sometimes hard to see the parasite. The child has to be quite sick before it shows up in the blood. If they have a lot of malaria parasites then the child may be unconscious or having convulsions.’

William carries out a range of blood, urine & stool tests in the lab (credit: Jenny Davies)

William also carries out a range of tests – delivered by MAF – for pregnancy, chlamydia, syphilis, HIV and hepatitis. He regularly carries out stool and urine analysis too.

With such a wide range of health services enabled by MAF, Suzy is thankful for the growth of IDAT’s ministry in South Sudan over 25 years, and her partnership with MAF:

‘How have I seen God be faithful? I’ve seen Him provide for every need that we’ve had. God has come right in and provided the right partnership to provide for that need.’

IDAT co-founder Suzy Kuj & MAF partner