Blog
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JDF Partners with Samaritan’s Purse to Provide Cleft Lip Surgeries!
December 5, 2011
Between November 5th and 12th, eight patients from four different payams in Duk County, received corrective cleft lip surgery, as part of a program implemented by Samaritan’s Purse at the Juba Teaching Hospital. As the designated time approached for the arrival of the chartered plane in Duk Payuel, which would transport the patients and their caretakers to Juba, there was a sense of a sense of nervous excitement. This was the first time that any of the would-be travelers had flown in a plane. Additionally, due to the distance from Duk County to Juba, this would be the first opportunity for many of the travelers to travel to world’s newest capital city.
In the U.S. and other developed countries, individuals born with a cleft lip routinely receive surgical treatment within 10 weeks of being born. However, in countries like South Sudan, most individuals never have access to such corrective treatment, and as a result suffer not only from the clefting congenital condition, but also from the psycho-social stigmas that society attaches to these individuals.
While the John Dau Foundation and the Duk Lost Boys Clinic has made incredible advances in the provision of medical services over the course of the last five years, there are still medical procedures and treatments which fall beyond the medical care that we are able to routinely provide at the Clinic. Fortunately, in such cases, we are able to partner with larger organizations such as Samaritan’s Purse, which are able to provide this life-changing care. As a result, we now have eight new smiling faces in Duk County.
