On Wednesday February 14, Bol Aweng and Steve Walker met Jok Dau in Juba South Sudan to begin a two-week trip to assess the new professional medical services provided at the Buckeye Clinic. Meetings were held in the federal capitol, Juba with our implementing partner, the John Dau Foundation, IMA World Health, the implementing partner of World Bank funding, and the Twic East County Health Director. They then flew to in Bor Town, the Jonglei State Capitol where they met with the Director General of the state Ministry of Health. All are key players in the implementation of quality health care for South Sudan. Tomorrow, Saturday, they will travel by road to Bol and Jok’s home village of Piol. There they will meet with village chiefs and elders and clinic staff. Please keep them in your prayers, for a safe and productive five-day visit.

Message from Steve:

We have had a very productive trip so far. Bol and I both had long and uneventful trips to Juba. On Wednesday and Thursday we had various meetings with our collaborative partner, the John Dau Foundation, MA W World Health, the implementer of the World Bank Funding, and the County Health Director. All are very supportive of the upgrading of our clinic to a Primary Health Care Center, a high lever recognized by the Ministry of Health. Today we met with the Director General of the State Ministry of Health and four individuals who had many good comments on the role of individual staff members in the clinic we are proposing.

All in all a VERY informative trip so far. We have a lot of listening to do in the Village the next five days. That will give us a lot of input to help make important decisions about how to manage the rest of 2018.

Thank you all for your interest and your prayers. Our next five days in the village will be very exciting.  Jok, Bol, and I really look forward to being there together for the first time.