We have had a full and productive day of meetings today including the Jonglei State Minister of Health, the MP (Member of Parliament) for Twic East County, a doctor from the Juba Teaching Hospital who is from the Twic East community and a good friend of the State and Federal Ministers of Health, and the Legal Advisor to President Kiir, who is also from Twic East County and is a very influential person in the federal government. All were very productive meetings and should lead to significant support for the upgrade of the Patiou facility from a PHCU to a PHCC. We were encouraged by their knowledge of what we have done in Piol and the support they have given and will continue to give to our project. All of the folks we met with are very influential in their areas of government. It is so helpful that we were able to connect with all of them today.

Our day began though with a two hour meeting with two John Dau Foundation staff members. We had a good meeting with the new HR person. We also met with the person responsible for procurement.

This has been an incredible trip. The timing could not have been better. We now have observed all the staff at the Buckeye Clinic as they served the patients. We were very impressed with each one. They are very qualified and have a real commitment to serve this community. We have a very good idea of what is needed to make the facility fully functional. We will have some difficult decisions to make because so much of what is needed will increase our budget for 2018. Bol, Jok and I have discussed at length all of what we have observed. We will have many recommendations to make to the Board/Steering Committee.

It has been our honor and pleasure to represent you here in South Sudan these past two weeks. A lot of good things are happening and you should all be proud of what you have done to make it possible. On behalf of all the people in Piol that I met and talked with. THANK YOU!