Pauline Carr

Reflections from Pauline...

As a volunteer Registered Nurse/ Midwife, I have been working in Southern Sudan for the past three years, in a very remote area called Mapuordit.  As I prepare to return there in the next few days, my thoughts obviously turn to what has been achieved in that time and where we go from here, given that the needs are seemingly endless.

 The present 100 bed hospital has rapidly developed from the pioneering and courageous efforts of a small band of OLSH Sisters back in the mid-1990s, whose rudimentary dispensary functioned under a tree and where all comers were treated with the best that these amazing Sisters could offer.  In 2001, Dr. Rosario Iannetti, an Italian Comboni Brother and surgeon, was asked by the diocese, to take over the health care of the area, and with his enormous energy, drive, vision and passion for the work, he has developed the hospital to the point where patients travel for days to Mapuordit, hearts full of hope that this hospital will offer them the help they are searching for.

Considering the fact that we are constrained by lack of qualified medical staff, very basic equipment and supplies, and “geographic impossibility”, I really feel that we do manage quite well!  I am very committed to encouraging the potential that is there, with ongoing staff education, finding donors to support staff training and working alongside staff as they grow into the way of being effective and responsible workers.  It was a great joy for us to have the chance to host a recognised Enrolled Nurse Training School in Mapuordit, which started just one year ago with the first group of fifteen students.  This first group will graduate in late 2011, and will then be able to work as Certified Nurses in the various Health Institutions in their Country.  This is a remarkable achievement for those involved, as at the moment it is the only such Training Centre in the South.

The combined efforts of generous donors at home, as well as dedicated  expatriate staff on the ground, is offering some sense of hope and security to many people, and I feel both humbly proud and ever-grateful to be so closely involved in this amazing venture.

Anne Jackson

In July 2009 Anne Jackson, the Renal Transplant Coordinator at Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney, joined her long-time colleague Pauline Carr at Mapuordit Hospital in a remote part of Southern Sudan for three months of volunteer teaching. Her task was to help train the hospital nursing staff. At the same time she was to assist in setting up a nurses' training school for the government of South Sudan. The school will mean that future nurses have access to the best possible education and equipment. In the mean time teaching at this remote hospital has been a challenge and a delight. A delight because despite all the privations the first Mapuordit student nurses have succeeded in passing their first block exams. A challenge because the many things we take for granted as basic hospital equipment are simply not available.

Reflections from Anne...

As I flew out of Rumbek leaving my great friend Pauline behind on the runway (just as I met her 3 months ago, both with tears in our eyes) I reflected on my experiences in Mapuordit. I think of all the amazing people I have met. Most have given up their own family lives to make life better for others in this strange land of Southern Sudan. Some have been here for years. Pauline has been here for about 3 years. I wonder what drives them. The world would be a different and better place if it was full of people like this.

During my time there I could not have been in better company - sharing and caring is everything to them. It might be a sugar cane stick or a teaspoon of honey from a bees nest in a tree or some Rid (mozzie cream) as yours has run out, it does not matter. They all have their bad days but quickly move on to the next and are sure the next day is going to be better.

My time at the hospital with Pauline has been very special. Nothing is too much for her; she helps everyone, patients, staff, nurses, she makes time for all. She is to be admired beyond words.
We have shared so many good and sad times together. The fun we had the night of the movie, giving out the juice from the bucket with the lollies and hearing all the staff screaming with laughter when they saw themselves for the first time on the big screen.

Another shared time that comes to mind is the night of the strike when we did a 25 hour shift, just the 2 of us in the whole hospital. Two babies born, one poor lady died, the rain came down in sheets, no water in the taps, no solar power left, so the lights went out. There was a dog in the middle of the children’s ward, along with lots of frogs, and a very large beetle about the size of a toad. It was surreal - probably because we were both just so tired - but we got through it.

On my last day, I was thanked very eloquently by the nursing staff and students. I received a bunch of zinnias, a ‘sign of love’, to show their love that they felt for me & for all ‘my teachings and kindness’ - all very moving. They must have forgotten the times that I shouted at them for being late on duty, or for not looking after their patients!! They begged me to stay or if not, to come back. I replied that I have left a big part of me there - all 10kg's of lost weight!

But perhaps the biggest thing I have learnt from them is that sometimes it is best to ‘let nature take its course’ and not to try and inflict our western ways onto a Sudanese culture.

As I left the hospital for the last time, ahead of me was a man walking slowly carrying the body of his 12yr old son wrapped in a dirty rag. He had died that morning of pneumonia. When I got to the gate, I saw that he had a motor bike waiting, ready to strap his son onto to take him home to his mother. This was almost a déjà vu: I think that there was a similar sight greeting me when I arrived at the hospital 3 months ago. Some things will never change....