WHAT HAPPENS NOW?

a question arising from the following article in the March 2007 Parish Magazine

CLOSER LINKS WITH SOUTHERN SUDAN

At the deanery Synod meeting in June 2006 a proposal was made for this Deanery to link with the Yambio Diocese in order to share our Christian faith, in prayer, mutual help and visits. This was agreed and at the end of July that year the proposer Mr Homfray Vines visited Yambio where he was warmly welcomed. He stayed part of the time in the compound of the Diocesan Bishop Rt Revd. Peter Munde Yacoub, and attended worship in the Cathedral, where he saw 24 new Mothers Union members being admitted. A programme of visits had been planned so that he could see the work being carried out in the Diocesan departments, training establishments, the Secondary School, and some parishes.

This area is quite fertile, mainly equatorial forest. The people appear fit and well and live on subsistence farming, with hens and goats, also fish from the rivers and lakes.

In 1951 Britain set up some industry: growing and producing cotton with mills provided, also timber mills and a power station. All of which suffered during the conflict and are now derelict. The roads are mostly dirt roads and so prone to flooding. There is not a lot in the way of transport, bicycles being most popular and cost about £80. each

The only Secondary school had 140 pupils in the four years S1 to S4 with 11 teachers, formerly funded by a Swedish group, but this is being withdrawn as it is classed as a church school. There is no university. Mothers Union is very strong, and so is the youth work.

It was noted that the Yambio Diocese had 14 Deaneries plus the Cathedral and Wimborne Deanery has 14 parishes/benefices. Subsequently a committee has tried to allocate a Deanery to each parish and we in West Parley have been given details of the Makarabundu Deanery whose Archdeacon is the Venerable Izikia Arama. It is situated 40 miles south east of Yambio near the border with the Congo. There are 5 pastors, 43 Lay readers, 304 Sunday school children, 156 Mothers Union members, and 29 evangelists.

Initially we are recommended to contact them in the first instance by e-mail to Yambio giving some details of our church and congregation with prayer requests and other useful information. We were also warned not to expect a quick replay as the e-mail would have to be taken by hand to the deanery which may take days on foot, if they haven't got a bicycle! That is the present situation so the next move is left to us in this parish

To get some idea of where this is click here to open a map (opens new window)
have a look around, though its a bit sparse on detail in the larger scales.
something that does not match up is the position & mileages given in the magazine article when matched to the scale ruler on the map.
If you have any comments or suggestions on this Sudan connection then please email us using the talk2me link on the front page. Homepage

There is no formal link between St Marks and Poole Hospital, the following article is reproduced for further background understanding of conditions in Sudan

Wau Teaching Hospital,
Southern Sudan, link with Poole Hospital

For over 100 years, the staff at Poole Hospital have provided excellent health care to the people of Dorset. Last year, it was agreed that we wanted to achieve something more so the idea of linking with a hospital in the developing world took root.
We explored a number of alternatives and discovered that St Marys Hospital in the Isle of Wight is already twinned with the hospital in Juba, the capital of Southern Sudan. As you are very probably aware, the Salisbury Diocese is also a major supporter of Sudan. Canon Ian Woodward briefed us on the tremendous need in Wau and the hospital there wrote to us seeking assistance.
I have just returned from an 8 day exploratory visit to Wau accompanied by two doctors, a nurse and a midwife. We were, therefore, well equipped to assess the situation at first hand. In a nutshell, what we witnessed was dire. There is no clean water, most of the food is provided by the World Food Programme and the supply of electricity is intermittent. Common diseases are malaria, gastroenteritis and guinea worm. The hospital has 300 beds but possesses no oxygen supply, no suction and no anaesthetic gases. Drugs are extremely limited and there are no laboratory facilities available to undertake even the most basic of blood tests.
Around 70% of the women admitted in labour require caesarean sections but the hospital possesses only ONE set of instruments and we actually witnessed one lady having to wait her turn while the instruments were sterilised. Little wonder that the maternal death rate is the highest in the world. Throughout my professional life as a nurse, I had occasion to visit many parts of the world. I can honestly report that the situation in Wau is easily the worst I have ever witnessed. Harrowing is the only word which best sums up the reaction of the team.
While over there, I signed a Memorandum of Understanding on behalf of the Trust. This sets out how Poole Hospital staff will provide much needed assistance partly in the form of training and education and, in part, through the provision of essential medical equipment.
We have created a charity to raise funds to support this work. We are hoping to send out two teams for three to four weeks in the autumn along with a monthly delivery of equipment.
The residents of Wau gave us a very warm welcome. They cope with all these adversities which almost certainly reflects their strong Christian beliefs. The church service I attended boasted a congregation of 600 inside the church and another 300 outside. For the record, I was easily the oldest person in that 900 strong assembly which says a lot about the prevailing life expectancy.

Yvonne Moores, Chair Poole Africa Link Committee

Link to Poole Hospital Trust Africa Link PageClick here