The Hospital

On Friday 20th Joseph and I visited the Aweil hospital. The Hospital was built by the British in the 1950s and stands as a relic of a previous era. I expected we would report to the office to ask to look around – but there was no office, no reception. I didn’t see any nurses. There is a sign over one building “X-Ray, CT Scan, UltraSound” – but the room is empty. There were a few patients either in bed or sitting under the shade of trees outside, but I didn’t see any sign that people were being treated.

The following morning I meet Marko Mayol, the Executive Director of Local Government. He asks “What is the point of a hospital that has no medicine and no doctors?”. I have heard there are three doctors here, but Marko explains they are Arabs and two of them refuse to treat Africans. Then he tells me that a few days before we arrived the son of the Governor was involved in a car accident and taken to the hospital. He wasn’t provided any treatment and when he died his parents came to take his body away. I am shocked and outraged. Joseph comments “If the son of the Governor cant get treatment, what hope is there for the poor people outside of town?”

Two of the Governor’s daughters are in my Sunday School at Magill COC, and I am devastated to think their brother in Aweil has been denied medical care. When Joseph and I meet the Governor later that morning I tell him how sorry I am to hear of his son’s death, and that I will ask people in Australia to help make the hospital operational again. His Excellency Paul Malong is a strong and disciplined man, and very conscientious about providing for the needs of his community. But he is a quietly spoken man and his words are almost too faint for me to hear: “Too sweet for my ears to hear. We do not cry in public, but in our hearts we weep.”

We will have further discussion with my sister Anger, the local nurse who I met at Rev Angelo’s church on Sunday, and the Minister for Health to see what assistance we can give to provide at least basic medical care for the people of Aweil. Please pray as we see what can be done in this area of great need.