Thirty five copies of the “Myles Textbook for Midwives, African Edition” were delivered to the medical training centre and are the only textbooks for the one hundred enrolled midwife students.

Mr Vigilio Masen, who teaches Public Health at the school, confirmed the books had been delivered, but they still are lacking a qualified midwifery tutor.

Arrangements for the shipment of textbooks has been difficult as the country suffers the impact of ongoing civil war. The economy has collapsed and even basic services are barely functional. Travel to Juba is unsafe, and in these circumstances it is a great challenge for Fulcrum Aid personnel to facilitate further support for the training of desperately needed primary health workers.

Fulcrum Aid has committed to providing textbooks and training resources, and to explore the possibility of providing a qualified midwife tutor.  We are currently holding thousands of dollars worth of new and used medical textbooks that have been donated for the school and will arrange delivery when we are confident in the stability and functionality of the medical school.

We are grateful for the assistance of Mr Adub Achier in facilitating our negotiations with the school, to the Zonta Club of Noarlunga / Southern Vales and others for the financial support, and to Teaching Aids at Low Cost (TALC) for arranging supply and logistics of the textbooks.

Fulcrum Aid will continue to explore ways of supporting the school. Although the circumstances make this difficult, the need is greater than ever.

Principal James Lotto recently informed us the number of students has risen to 200, with 38 first year midwifery students joining the 18 who are in their second year, and a large intake of 114 new nursing students to supplement the 30 who have completed their first year of training.

The potential for 200 graduates to enter the public health system provides an opportunity to significantly boost health outcomes in the coming years. In addition to the dramatic increase in numbers, the high retention rate of the first intake of students is very encouraging, with 48 of the original 50 students continuing into their second year.

At the same time the high volume of students creates an increased workload for staff and tutors who were already under-resourced.

Fulcrum Aid is in the process of purchasing and sending 60 copies of the African Edition of Myles Textbook for Midwives. We have also received donations of reference books for the library valued at over $3000.

We express our great appreciation to the Zonta Club of Noarlunga / Southern Vales for their generous gift of $650 towards the cost of the midwife text books, and to the many generous individuals who have donated books or money.

If you would like to help provide trained nurses and midwives in South Sudan there is information here on how you can support this project.