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Bishop Elias Taban and His Wife |
In October of 2006 our church had a visit from Bishop Elias Taban
of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Sudan. He was touring the
UK with Medic Assist International
to raise awareness of the desperate health situation in Southern
Sudan, and to raise funds to help continue the work he was doing to
build a much-needed hospital in Goli.
Since independence in
1956, Sudan has experienced only 11 years without violent conflict.
For the last 20 years, fierce fighting has occurred between
Government forces and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement. In
2005, a Peace Accord was signed. It promised regional autonomy for
the south and a referendum about independence after six years. There
was also a pledge about sharing the oil wealth; the oil reserves
being in the south.
As a result of the conflict, southern Sudan is devastated, including
its healthcare infrastructure:
- at least 4 million people have lost their homes
- 2 million have been killed
- 90% of people live on less than 60 pence per day
- 1 in 4 children die before 5 years of age
- 11% of women die in childbirth
- life expectancy is 42 years
- there is 1 doctor for every 100,000 people.
It was at the meeting in October 2006 that many of our church
members felt compelled to support the work of Bishop Taban and MAI.
Over the next few months the idea of sending some men out to help to
complete the Goli Hospital was formed within our church and meetings
took place to arrange how this could be achieved. |
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From the 19th to
29th October 2007 seven men from our church (including
our pastor, John) travelled to Sudan to help complete the
internal wet and dry finishing and electrics of the hospital
in Goli. The team were based in Yei - the city in which
Bishop Taban lives. They were staying in accommodation built
by Bishop Taban's wife and various other women. Due to
adverse weather conditions the roads to Goli were not as
easily travelled as hoped so the team were also enlisted to
help with various other projects.
For example:
The local men were building a garage and workshop, and
considering the amount of damage the roads did to the
vehicles during the rainy season it was apparent that this
was an extremely important building to complete - some of
our team assisted in the construction while the others went
to Goli. |
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The 'Sudan Seven'
- Alistair, Stewart, John,
Walter, John, Paul, David -
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| It was unfortunate that they could not be
out at Goli hospital as much as they had hoped, but the team
managed to do a great deal of work in the local community in
Yei. Soon we hope to have pictures of the projects so that
you can see the work being done in Sudan.
It is likely that we will be sending another team of
people in the future as we are hoping to build a lasting
relationship with the people in Yei and Goli. If you want to
find out more about Medic Assist International please visit
their website:
www.medic-assist.org |
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