Our Work
Refugees Serve Sudan as Doctors
On A Mission
“My dear sons and daughters, I welcome you wholeheartedly. We congratulate you for the great mission you have accomplished. It will go down in history.
--President of South Sudan, Salva Kiir Mayardit
A profoundly meaningful graduation ceremony was held recently for 11 new doctors in the city of Juba, South Sudan. In a severely underdeveloped nation where there are barely 30 practicing physicians for almost 10 million people, 11 more doctors is cause for great celebration.
For the graduates – all part of the Samaritan’s Purse Sudanese Physician Reintegration Program – the ceremony marked a important milestone in a 23-year mission to return to their homeland of South Sudan and provide much-needed medical care.
"I never lost hope that I would come back," Dr. Daniel Madit Duop said. "I knew I was on a mission, and it was a God-given opportunity when Samaritan's Purse offered to help. We grew up with that mission in our lives -- it has been part of our journey."
The Journey
Giving Courage
“You are a gift from heaven that gives us courage. You are going to join us in a battle against diseases and in a war against death. Our thank-you is profound.”
--South Sudan Health Minister Theophilus Chang Letti
As children, these doctors walked for days, weeks and sometimes months to escape civil war in their Sudanese homeland. By the time they arrived at refugee camps in Ethiopia, many of their family and friends had been gunned down, devoured by crocodiles, or succumbed to starvation, dehydration or exhaustion.
From Ethiopia, they were sent by boat to Cuba -- part of a group of 600 youngsters given the daunting task by the Sudan People's Liberation Army of equipping themselves to rebuild South Sudan when the war eventually ended.
They obtained their high schooling, then their medical degrees, in Cuba while the war in Sudan continued. They later entered Canada as refugees, discovered their Cuban medical credentials were not recognized, and labored for years in factory jobs.
As the civil war in Sudan wound down, Samaritan’s Purse and the University of Calgary partnered to provide the Cuba-trained physicians with further training and help them complete the mission of returning to South Sudan. The doctors finished the nine-month program in the fall of 2006, then began residencies that Samaritan's Purse had arranged at hospitals in Kenya.
The 11 completed their residencies recently and are back in Sudan, assigned to various hospitals and clinics throughout the south.
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Ways You Can Help
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Pray
Pray for wisdom and protection for the physicians as they now serve in remote locations across South Sudan. |  | GiveSupport this project by donating to Sudan Medical Needs Donate Here.
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