From Medair
Sudan (Northern States) -- On a day in December, Medair pays a supervisory visit to the Abu Zuruj clinic it supports in this conflict-torn region.
The long, hot summer has passed, and at mid-morning a cool breeze blows through the concrete verandah-cum-waiting area of the health clinic in Abu Zuruj. Next to the whitewashed clinic walls, a flowering desert rose bush provides a burst of colour. Desert roses are common in this small town in West Darfur, close to the border with Chad, but the clinic is one of the few brick-built structures around. A clutch of patients, quietly awaiting their turn to be seen, have no doubt about the importance of this facility, which Medair has continued to support throughout the current conflict.
Sitting in the line is Leila Abdelrahman, who fled to the relative safety of Abu Zuruj four years ago, when her home village became too insecure. Here in Abu Zuruj, she and her family have no access to farmland, so they rely on rations from the World Food Programme. However, this shy mother must sometimes venture outside Abu Zuruj to collect firewood for cooking and grass to feed her few animals.
"It's dangerous," she admits, "but so far, I have been okay."
Today however, she is at the clinic to seek treatment for her two-year-old child, who is suffering from fever, diarrhoea, and vomiting.
"Herbal treatments haven't worked," she says, "and there are no other health facilities in the area. I have been treated here before, and I am happy with the service provided."
Naira Elkheir, a resident of Abu Zuruj, is more definitive.
"There are no other clinics nearby, and I don't use traditional healers," says Naira, cradling her one-year-old child. "If this clinic was not here, I don't where else we would go."
Medair's support for the clinic
Medair began supporting this clinic in 2002 before the current conflict in West Darfur had even begun. In the current environment of conflict and insecurity, its continued presence is crucial for the affected community. Medair supplies the clinic with drugs, trains the staff, provides the clinic with an important link to the Ministry of Health, and conducts regular supervision visits - as they are doing on this day.
The clinic also offers much needed antenatal care to the vulnerable women of the community. Many mothers give birth at home, but will come to the clinic if there are complications. Recently, a local woman in the late stages of her pregnancy was shot, sending her into labour. A lack of vehicles coupled with insecurity on the roads meant that she was unable to travel to hospital in the state capital, El Geneina. Instead, she spent three days in labour in the clinic's prenatal care room, and thankfully, she and the child are now recovering well.
Treatment for Howa's sick infant
By mid-afternoon, the sun is hanging high in the sky and the temperature is sweltering. Away from the clinic, on a hillside above the centre of Abu Zuruj, Howa Abdallah sits with some friends in the shade of a tree. Despite living here in this settlement of displaced families, she walks a couple of kilometres to get to the clinic whenever she or her children are sick. She was last there two weeks ago, when her infant had diarrhoea.
She says that she was reasonably happy with the treatment provided, which consisted of tablets and oral rehydration salts (ORS), but was disappointed not to receive any syrups. A common misperception locally is that syrups and injections are "better medicine" than mere tablets. Charles Andruga, a Medair Medical Assistant on this supervision visit to Abu Zuruj, explains to the women on the hillside that tablets are no different medically from syrups, and that they can be crushed if necessary to enable small children to take them. He checks whether Howa had mixed the ORS correctly - which she had - and then reiterates the importance of rehydration when treating diarrhoea.
The invaluable clinic staff
Back at the clinic, inside its high-ceilinged central room, Health Workers Haroon Adam and Yahia Araby sit behind metal tables, with the most common drugs laid out in front of them, ready to be prescribed. They consult the waiting patients briskly and courteously, treating around one hundred villagers per day between the two of them.
Yahia expresses some concern about his income, but at the same time, he knows how important his work is to the community.
"As well as treating patients, we provide health information to help people avoid getting sick," he says. "We also watch out for any signs of epidemics and provide an early warning to the Ministry of Health."
His colleague Haroon is appreciative of all the support that Medair provides.
"Both ourselves as health workers, and the local community, are very grateful for the support Medair gives, and its commitment to the people of Abu Zuruj."
As the daylight fades, and their supervisory visit draws to a close, the Medair team know that many different elements combine to make this clinic a success. It is the dedication of Haroon and Yahia, it is the long support chain that stretches back to El Geneina and Khartoum, and it is the generous support of donors in the west. Thanks to all of these contributors, the people of Abu Zuruj have a proper place to go when they are sick, where otherwise they would not.
Epilogue:
Unfortunately, since that day in December 2007, the Medair staff have been unable to visit Abu Zuruj because of insecurity in the general area. There has also been a reported influx of as many as 7,000 newly displaced people to the village. God willing, Medair will soon be able to return, maintaining its vital support of the clinic and the surrounding community.
Names of patients have been changed.
Medair is an international non-governmental organization (NGO), with its operational headquarters based in Switzerland. It has worked in Sudan since 1995, and in West Darfur since 2001, where Medair currently provides access to primary health care, and water & sanitation for up to 200,000 conflict-affected persons. These activities are carried out in collaboration with the Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC), the Ministry of Health, and other Government of Sudan agencies, as well as UNICEF and the World Health Organisation (WHO). Financial support is received from the governments of Switzerland (SDC), the United Kingdom (DfID), the United States of America (USAID/OFDA), the United Nations' Sudan Common Humanitarian Fund (CHF), and other private donors.
Elsewhere in Sudan, Medair works with war-displaced people in Khartoum; and supports access to primary health care, and safe water & sanitation in the Nuba Mountains area of South Kordofan. In Southern Sudan, Medair provides emergency medical and water assistance for outbreaks, large people movements, and nutritional emergencies in a number of locations across the region, as well as improving access to primary health care and safe water sources in Upper Nile.
Medair's life-saving activities are dependent upon private financial support. To contribute to this work, please click here (Sudan section).