SOUTH SUDAN – I.T. Lab at the Jonglei Health Institute

Located in Bor, South Sudan, the Jonglei Health Sciences Institute (JHSI) is a healthcare centre tackling the lack of trained midwives and clinical officers in the country. South Sudan has the highest maternal mortality rate in the world, with close to 1% of women dying of birthing complications. This is perhaps not surprising, as the country has only one doctor for every 66,000 people and only one midwife for every 39,000 people. Against this background the JHSI aims to increase the number of skilled birth attendants to combat this appalling maternal mortality rate.

Doctors Anil and Shalini Cherian, the co-ordinators of the Institute, want to widen student access to digital training and learning resources and circumvent the currently patchy internet access, to improve the quality of the vital training that the Institute provides.

Our funding will therefore allow the Institute to purchase eight laptops for the use of the students. There are currently some 43 student mid-wives and clinical Officers training at the Institute, 21 of these students are in the 2021 intake and the laptops we are funding will provide improved training for them. Over time, once they are trained and working in the community, their enhanced training will allow graduates of the Institute to help to change many lives in South Sudan.