A volunteer medical team is offering cleft lip repair for a fourth consecutive year.
November, 2014—Samaritan’s Purse is providing cleft lip surgeries for as many as 73 South Sudanese men, women, and children at the Juba Teaching Hospital.
A team of 12 doctors and nurses from the United States, Canada, Kenya, and the United Kingdom, are running two operating tables. Some beneficiaries come from around Juba, while Samaritan’s Purse pilots are flying in other patients from remote areas in seven different states of the country. One family is walking 25 miles (40 km) just to reach a small airstrip where they will be picked up and returned.
Children born with cleft lips in South Sudan are often abused, prevented from going to school, and made to feel worthless because of the false belief they are possessed by evil. Over 200 patients have had repairs done over the previous three years and the results can be life-altering. Not only are the health and cosmetic improvements dramatic, many encounter the Great Physician while in Juba.
Justin Diwiri, a pastor and partner with us last year, summed up the project well:
“Patients arrive looking sad, they cannot live a normal life, and many don’t know Christ. They leave happy and healed, many receiving Christ and others growing stronger in their relationship with the Lord.”
This year the team anticipates adding cleft palate repairs to the docket. Please pray for the success of this program and for God to be glorified through it.
Four Patients for Prayer
From Darren Tosh, Samaritans Purse Canada projects director
Here are four patients that will undergo surgery today. Please pray for them, their moms, and the surgeons. All four have flown in from very remote areas, coming from very simple communities, living in grass houses and never experiencing the modern city of Juba. It’s fun to hear them talk about their first flight from home to the hospital.
This week we will potentially see 73 patients from 7 different states. Pretty amazing stuff.
