Stories
May 27, 2021 • 3 min read
In this remote and conflicted region, accessing basic healthcare can involve long and expensive journeys to far away clinics.
Our team in Sudan is now working with communities to ensure they have access to local clinics for free thanks to our partnership with EU Humanitarian Aid.
Bakhit Altom
Bakhit is just 7 years old. He lives with his family in Alradeef village in the Talodi region of Sudan. The civil war in the country has meant that different parts of this region are under the control of various warring groups.
Earlier this year, Bakhit fell ill.
Inside the GOAL run clinic in Alradeef village.
His father, Altom Tutu, said “It just started with a cough so we thought nothing of it. But then he began to feel very weak and stopped playing with his friends.”
When Bakhit stopped eating and developed headaches and a fever, his family became very concerned.
“We wanted to take him to the hospital, but it was so far away and I would have to leave my wife to look after our other children for a long time.”
This is when the family heard of a free GOAL-operated clinic in their local village, the Alradeef Health facility in Talodi.
“We took him to the GOAL clinic and he was diagnosed with Malaria and acute pneumonia. If we had to travel any further he may have died.”
Malaria is a preventable disease contracted from mosquitoes, but in many developing countries access to the necessary medicines is often lacking. Over 300,000 people die from malaria each year, mainly in Africa.
The GOAL team monitored Bakhit and ensured he got the care he needed. He was soon free of Malaria and back in good health.
His father said “Without a source of income, I would not have managed to pay for his treatment. I am so grateful that there were available medical staff and free medicines in the GOAL-supported clinic which ensured that we got quality health care in our villages.”
Ebtisam Makki
Ebtisam is 21 years old and like many women in Sudan, has three children under the age of five.
Unfortunately, one of her children, her son Abbas (3), was very malnourished from birth and extremely underweight. Ebtisam tried her hardest to provide for her family. However, her husband left her 9 months ago and she struggles to provide enough food for her children.
Her mother sells goods in the local market but her father is too elderly to work.
“After my husband left us, it became very difficult. My mother sells charcoal to help us out, but it is not enough as I have to look after the children and my father cannot work.”
Despite trying their best, Abbas became very sick due to malnourishment. Not only could Ebtisam not afford enough food but accessing healthcare to treat Abbas was too expensive.
Then she found out that a local GOAL-run clinic provides free care and food for malnourished children and mothers. Thanks to this support, Ebtisam was able to feed Abass until he was healthy.
She says “I could have lost my child because I could not afford food, but thanks to GOAL he is now healthy again and I am so grateful.”
