The tragic conflict in Sudan has been uprooting the lives of over 6.1 million Sudanese people for almost two years. This conflict has caused many families to flee their homes and move to regions with barren land, resulting in a growing child malnutrition crisis.
SCRIPT:
Beya
When we first arrived we had nothing at all. Don’t be fooled by what we have now this is just a start. At first all we have was a plastic sheet to sleep on and a cooking pot to prepare food. We never planned to run, but it was a sudden disaster. It was like a fire burning all around us.
We need support, especially for nursing mothers, pregnant women, girls and the elderly. This land is barren so we can’t settle. Food is a whole other concern.
Dave Philips – Samaritan’s Purse
There is a growing humanitarian crisis in the country of Sudan. Fighting broke out between rival factions, which is caused many people to have to flee their homes and seek safety in different parts of the country. Samaritan’s purse has been a friend of the people of Sudan for decades. Samaritan’s purse has been responding to this overwhelming humanitarian need by meeting people where they are providing food and water and medicine.
John Troke, BSN – Samaritan’s Purse
Unfortunately, this crisis isn’t on the radar of the world right now. It’s not in the news. It’s not in the media. When Samaritan’s Purse first became aware of the significant displacement that was happening, we sent out our assessment teams to understand the needs of the population and to look into what really was most urgent in terms of responding.
One of the things we found was a very high level of children who are moderately or severely malnourished. It is tragic to see a child hungry. And so this creates a situation where people have to find a way to get their basic needs with whatever’s locally available. I saw a pot of boiling leaves, and it was for a family of six people, and that was their dinner for the night.
Dave Philips
And Samaritan’s Purse has to respond to those types of situations immediately. We can’t slow down, and we cannot rest until we find a way to get that help to people who are in need.
Dr Kalisa Wabibye – Samaritan’s Purse
When children arrive here with the malnutrition, we assess them and see that they meet the criteria. The one is with the severe acute malnutrition, and malnutrition causes loss of immunity.
John Troke
For severely malnourished children we provide them with what we call REFT. And RETF is simply ready to use therapeutic food. It’s a medicine that we give to the child. It’s really all they eat for that week in between when they see us and when they come back and get reevaluated.
Dave Philips
We’ve developed an air program. We’re able to take food and drop it into communities where people are most in need.
Zach McClelland – Samaritan’s Purse
We’re here at our international airstrip, where we’ll be bringing in two planes today. The food that we’re able to provide gives them enough food for the next month. What we do is we fly in and we do airdrops, a food commodities. Each plane carries 16.2 metric tonnes. They’ll make two passes and drop the food.
After the food is collected. We’ll sit and make sure any broken bags are recovered and sent out to the communities. Each plane has enough food to feed 324 families and provide this line of provision that they’re able to provide to themselves, their families, their children.
Musa Araman – Samaritan’s Purse
We have seen the burden passed providing general food distribution, providing food drops and all that has been very helpful in cooling the needs of these people and making them feel like, yeah, they have been remembered in that time with being and trusting God. They’re seeing some of their need.
Thank God, people came and helped us. I thank them, I truly appreciate them. I hope for continued support because we’re really struggling
Musa
Medical personnel we get more rewarding kind of satisfaction when we see a child who comes, who is very mushy, that are not able to walk, can’t smile. But gradually, when we continue treating and handling that child until he’s able to smile and play, we thank God when we see such situation. It is very fulfilling. In some of us.
We feel like this is the reason why God created us. We see the purpose of our creation and besides the physical symptoms, we come in with the hope of Jesus Christ. And you have seen the difference that we come with.
Dave
When the Good Samaritan helped the person that was in the ditch, he took him and he set him in.
He clothed him, took him to a hotel, and he paid for his stay at the hotel, gave him money to make sure that he had food for the future. This is a prolonged response. This place needs to have food in six months in nine months and twelve months so that we can ensure food insecurity doesn’t increase.
In a time of crisis it’s important that we pray and I would ask that people would pray for the people of Sudan. Pray for peace to come to the nation. Pray for the families who are effected by the conflict. Those who’ve had to flee their homes or who are lacking things like food and water and medical help. Pray for Samaritan’s Purse staff who are out on the frontlines helping in Jesus name.
Story Provided By:
Samaritan’s Purse
Producing Organization
Samaritans Purse – www.samaritanspurse.org
Recording Location
Sudan
Organization featured in this Story
Samaritans Purse – www.samaritanspurse.org
People Interviewed and their Titles
Beya
Dave Philips – Samaritan’s Purse
John Troke, BSN – Samaritan’s Purse
Dr Kalisa Wabibye – Samaritan’s Purse
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