Blog
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Providing Health Services Where None Previously Existed
October 12, 2011
On a Saturday afternoon last month, a young mother of two was brought in to the Duk Lost Boys Clinic by her husband. They had come on foot from her home of Poktap, a town about 15 miles from Duk. She was extremely anemic and very weak, and upon her arrival at the Clinic, the staff immediately determined that she needed an emergency blood transfusion to save her life. The Clinic’s lab technician ran tests on her husband’s blood—the same quality tests that would be conducted in the U.S.—to determine if he could be a potential donor. Fortunately, he was; soon after, his wife was able to receive her life-saving blood transfusion.
Mrs. Kuol returned to the Clinic a few days ago for a routine check-up, and our medical officers report that she is now in good health. The fact that she was able to return speaks to the importance of the services that the Clinic is able to offer the residents of Duk and surrounding counties: Until recently, an individual requiring such a treatment would have had to been transported to the state capital, more than a hundred miles away and completely inaccessible half the year due to flooding six months of the year. The dirt roads around the region are completely impassable due to standing water, which reaches above knee-height in most places.
During her last visit, Mrs. Kuol reiterated that she was thankful for the medical care she received at the Clinic, and acknowledged that she was especially fortunate considering her relative proximity to the Clinic; more than a third of the Clinic’s patients come from a day’s walk away or more. For her and others, the Duk Lost Boys Clinic is the only option for quality medical services. She was also quick to point out that her two children, aged two years and five months respectively, have also benefited from the health services provided at the Clinic. Her eldest son has been fully immunized, as a direct result of the Clinic’s vaccination programs. Her second child is also receiving the necessary immunizations to ensure that he will not fall victim to the common illnesses which are prevalent, but easily preventable in South Sudan.
