Midwife Textbooks for South Sudan
We have just received the report that our shipment of midwife textbooks has been received at the Juba School of Nursing and Midwifery.
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.
About the Author
Steve Blacket
Steve is the Managing Director of Fulcrum Aid, an organisation dedicated to sustainable freedom from extreme poverty with partnerships in four countries across Africa and the Asia-Pacific. Steve’s urban ministry in South Australia led to lifelong friendships among the South Sudanese refugee community who requested Steve’s assistance with community development in their homeland. Working with a faith-based organisation Steve initiated and managed various projects in South Sudan including Darfur refugee support, training and resourcing Traditional Birth Attendants, an intervention program for war affected children, a Midwives Training School, a program for girl’s education, and a community agricultural enterprise. Steve also initiated education projects and social enterprises among the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh. Steve returned to Australia in 2013 with a vision of how a small, non-aligned aid organisation committed to assisting early stage, locally initiated projects could make a difference. Partnerships and project opportunities continue to grow, including slavery rehabilitation in South Sudan, social enterprises in Bangladesh, independence schemes for vulnerable young women in Uganda and South Sudan, holistic care for HIV affected children in Bangladesh, and resourcing a Nurse and Midwife School in Juba, South Sudan. Steve’s vision drew support from across Australia and in 2014 he led the founding of Fulcrum Aid, dedicated to supporting in-country leaders and harnessing Australian partners and resources so that local communities could move towards sustainable freedom from extreme inequality and poverty. Today Fulcrum Aid has a dedicated team of Directors and an expert staff including Business, Project, Publicity and Research consultants, supported by Steve in his role as Managing Director.
Contact Steve by email here.