I had just returned to Juba, South Sudan, and was chatting with my friend James Abraham. “James, do you know what I’ve done? I’ve signed an agreement with the Ministry of Health in Aweil to provide a midwife training centre.”

At that stage there weren’t any qualified midwives for the whole state, and they reported that more than one in ten women were dying in childbirth. It was the most significant moment of my career.

I will never forget James’ reply. He said “Oh Steve, that’s good. But we really need a midwife school here too.” Then he started telling me the names of the women he knew who had died in childbirth in the few weeks I had been away.