Catholic Entity in South Sudan Appeals for Support in Training of Nurses and Midwives

Fr. Greene added, “We appeal to your generosity in a special way this year, knowing that our nurses and midwives are making an important difference in the lives of many in our country.”

“We have directed the appeal to primarily Religious Congregations, especially international Religious Congregations,” the SSS Director said, and added, “We also directed it through our website to other groups who will be interested in funding us, and in fact, we are willing to accept money from those groups that have goodwill.”

Credit: Solidarity with South Sudan (SSS)

CHTI that is hosted by the Catholic Diocese of Wau has 131 students enrolled in nursing and midwifery courses.

In the May 19 interview with ACI Africa, Fr. Greene said, “In the latest calculation that we did yesterday (Wednesday 17), we would need an additional one hundred thousand US dollars to allow us to complete this year.”

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The member of the Missionary of Africa (White Fathers) added, “We are concerned about the rising cost of food which is an extra expense for us that we had not anticipated. We also have a number of local salaries that we have to pay.”

“We are addressing this shortfall and hope that by the next year 2023, we will have a financial plan in place to allow us to continue like before,” he explained, and continued, “We offer transportation, freeboard and lunch, and free third-level education which is quite undertaking.” 

“We already had a considerable show of solidarity from some Religious Congregations and we are reaching out every week to other groups. We are getting a lot of positive interest and energy and we are getting some financial commitment,” the Director of the UISG and USG initiative said.

He expressed the hope that “we will meet our goal at the end of the year.”

Credit: Solidarity with South Sudan (SSS)

The SSS Executive Director also highlighted an agricultural project in South Sudan’s Western Equatoria State, saying that discussions with partners were underway to extend the program for three years.

“We are currently in negotiation with some donors to extend this program for another three years. We hope to be able to offer more instruction on our model farm,” Fr. Greene told ACI Africa during the May 19 interview. 

Making reference to insecurity in the area, SSS Director said they are working with the Church to secure the environment after last year’s incident where SSS activities in Remenze were halted for three months following cases of robbery.

 “We are now trying to address with the Diocese how best to maintain a secure environment for the Religious community, farmers, and local community,” Fr. Greene said.

Patrick Juma Wani is a South Sudanese journalist with a great zeal and interest for Catholic Church related communication. Patrick holds a Diploma in Journalism and Mass Communication from Makerere Institute for Social Development (MISD) in Uganda. He has over 7 years of extensive experience in leading the development and implementation of media, advocacy, communication and multimedia strategy and operations, with an excellent track record of editorial leadership, budget management, and stakeholder outreach. He currently works as a Journalist for ACI Africa.