Project details
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Africa
South Sudan
Health > Wau Healthcare Institute
Proposed Activities
Intensive 6 month professional preparation, comprising courses in English, mathematics, biology, Catholic theology and professional ethics. During this period students will also participate in a catechetical formation. An internship at the Diocesan Hospital in Wau in the practical core of the program, during which the student will learn practical application of Christian ethical principles and patient care. The student nurses will immerse themselves entirely in practical care. Patient hygiene, nutrition, personal problems and family context and all other important aspects of caregiving will all be addressed by the program during this process. The human being must be understood globally, each individual within the integrated context of his family and community. The four year course of study will culminate in the reception of a diploma recognized by the Ministry of Education.
Direct Beneficiaries
32 students began studies in 2010. ImpactHope is committed to financing the whole four year course of study for one student. In light of the high quality of the school's program, the excellence of the students enrolled, and considering the emerging situation in the Southern Sudan, it is important to create immediate momentum and hope amongst the populace there. ImapctHope consequently intends to provide support for four new students in 2011. It must be emphasized that the cost of living in the war torn Southern Sudan is in relative terms very high, which explains the high cost of educating each student.
Indirect Beneficiaries
All patients who receive care from the Diocesan Hospital in Wau, as well as any other health facilities served by the students.
THE CONTEXT
In February 2011 the Southern Sudan held a plebiscite in which 98% of the populace voted for independence from the regime in Khartoum. This separation is to take effect on the 9th of July, 2011. More than 80% of the electorate went to the polls to vote for the birth of this new African state. After years of suffering, the Christian and animist populations of this ravaged country nourish great hopes for the future. Still, the difficult heritage of the past weighs heavily and the road forward is strewn with numerous serious obstacles and challenges. The inhabitants of Southern Sudan have recently suffered more than a half century of war. The latest period of conflict lasting 21 years was recently concluded with a peace accord signed in January 2005 between the Khartoum government and South Sudan. Four years after the end of one of the longest civil wars ever fought in Africa or the world there are still more than 300,000 refugees registered as originating in the South Sudan out of a total of a million created by the conflict nationally, who to this day have yet to return to their home villages. The Southern Sudan must now simultaneously both continue to develop economically, as well as recover from the ravages of war. The Catholic Church has remained with and supported the Sudanese people throughout the many decades of war and violence, and she intends to take part in both the national reconstruction and the establishment of the new southern state. There are two urgent overall priorities, healthcare and education. 85% of the population is considered illiterate (only 6% of all Sudanese teachers have received a formal university education), and surveys carried out in the countryside reveal that some 50 to 60% of the population lives at more than one day's walk from medical services. Faced with this situation, The Bishops' Conference of the Sudan has decided to reopen their Health Training Institute in the mid-western Southern Sudanese city of Wau. It was closed during the length of the latest conflict. The purpose of the school is to give its students not only a quality scientific education but also a strong grounding in professional ethics as well as a charitable spirit of Christian humanism, with an overarching goal of providing caregivers to even the farthest flung regions of the country. The course of studies is intended to run four years, and will include a medical and public health formation, as well as courses in ethics, the catechism, biblical studies, all concluding in an internship at the Diocesan Hospital in Wau, also run by the Church. The planning stage, the creation of the curriculum and other groundwork, was accomplished in 2010. At the beginning of 2010, on the 4th of February, the school welcomed it's first limited class of 18 students. His Eminence Rudolf Deng Majack, Bishop of Wau, presided over the open ceremony marking the beginning of classes. A second class of 14 students will matriculate in August to begin the program. In 2011 the Health Training Institute and ImpactHope intend to offer the program to a new group of students, providing them scholarships to cover necessary expenses. A class of 15 is expected. There is a pressing need to educate as many students as possible, given that the experts at the ImpactHope Foundation have confirmed a severe lack of medical personnel and paramedics throughout whole territory of the new southern state.
In February 2011 the Southern Sudan held a plebiscite in which 98% of the populace voted for independence from the regime in Khartoum. This separation is to take effect on the 9th of July, 2011. More than 80% of the electorate went to the polls to vote for the birth of this new African state. After years of suffering, the Christian and animist populations of this ravaged country nourish great hopes for the future. Still, the difficult heritage of the past weighs heavily and the road forward is strewn with numerous serious obstacles and challenges. The inhabitants of Southern Sudan have recently suffered more than a half century of war. The latest period of conflict lasting 21 years was recently concluded with a peace accord signed in January 2005 between the Khartoum government and South Sudan. Four years after the end of one of the longest civil wars ever fought in Africa or the world there are still more than 300,000 refugees registered as originating in the South Sudan out of a total of a million created by the conflict nationally, who to this day have yet to return to their home villages. The Southern Sudan must now simultaneously both continue to develop economically, as well as recover from the ravages of war. The Catholic Church has remained with and supported the Sudanese people throughout the many decades of war and violence, and she intends to take part in both the national reconstruction and the establishment of the new southern state. There are two urgent overall priorities, healthcare and education. 85% of the population is considered illiterate (only 6% of all Sudanese teachers have received a formal university education), and surveys carried out in the countryside reveal that some 50 to 60% of the population lives at more than one day's walk from medical services. Faced with this situation, The Bishops' Conference of the Sudan has decided to reopen their Health Training Institute in the mid-western Southern Sudanese city of Wau. It was closed during the length of the latest conflict. The purpose of the school is to give its students not only a quality scientific education but also a strong grounding in professional ethics as well as a charitable spirit of Christian humanism, with an overarching goal of providing caregivers to even the farthest flung regions of the country. The course of studies is intended to run four years, and will include a medical and public health formation, as well as courses in ethics, the catechism, biblical studies, all concluding in an internship at the Diocesan Hospital in Wau, also run by the Church. The planning stage, the creation of the curriculum and other groundwork, was accomplished in 2010. At the beginning of 2010, on the 4th of February, the school welcomed it's first limited class of 18 students. His Eminence Rudolf Deng Majack, Bishop of Wau, presided over the open ceremony marking the beginning of classes. A second class of 14 students will matriculate in August to begin the program. In 2011 the Health Training Institute and ImpactHope intend to offer the program to a new group of students, providing them scholarships to cover necessary expenses. A class of 15 is expected. There is a pressing need to educate as many students as possible, given that the experts at the ImpactHope Foundation have confirmed a severe lack of medical personnel and paramedics throughout whole territory of the new southern state.
IMPACTHOPE'S OBJECTIVES
To provide students from all parts of the Southern Sudan the opportunity to complete the Institute's 4 year program.
To form competent and independent young men and women who will act in their social and professional milieu in conformity with the values of the Gospel.