Providing vital health and disability care for returning refugees in Kajo-Keji
South Sudan:
With some of the world's poorest health indicators, South Sudan has been a nation in desperate need of support for many years. But the recent civil war displaced millions of people and ripped apart much of the fragile health infrastructure. Before the war, Kajo-Keji had 49 health facilities; now only 14 are somewhat functional, with none offering rehabilitation services. With some stability now returning, refugees are starting to return home to start rebuilding their communities.
Community Health and Disability Rehabilitation services:
HHA's response was to open a new health and rehabilitation clinic in Kajo-Keji. We broke ground in May 2023, with the aim of building a clinic that would serve an estimated 500 members of the community every month, providing transformative care, treatment and resources within a community that has needed it for too long.
The clinic and the community outreach workers attached to the clinic are already serving over 1000 patients a month, far surpassing our initial estimates and showing how vital this service is to the community.
In October 2023, we took the next step, launching the disability care activities at the center. Members of our Prosthetics & Orthotics and wheelchair technician team from our center in Uganda travel to Kajo-Keji, where they undertake mobile castings and fittings. In addition, the new clinic acts as a hub for wheelchair distributions and physiotherapy services, extending the reach of our Uganda center into South Sudan.
Special thanks go to the UNHCR, The Peter Stebbings Memorial Charity, Eleanor Rathbone Charitable Trust, the Favell Family and all our friends and partners who contributed to making this dream a reality.
Project Start Date: 2023
Number of patients treated monthly: 1,000 +
Partners/Donors:
Prosthetics fitted at the Kajo-Keji clinic
The new clinic not only provides daily healthcare for pregnant mothers, babies and those in need or urgent medical care. It is also an extension of the skilled disability care we provide in BidiBidi, Uganda.
The Uganda team make regular trips to the Kajo-Keji clinic to meet people with disabilities needing prosthetics and mobility aids. Castings are taken and prosthetics are fitted, working closely with the BidiBidi center and its fully equipped workshop.
One of first patients the mobile team saw in Kajo-Keji was James, a 22 year old from South Sudan who had his hand amputated in 2008. He was the happy recipient of a prosthetic hand and one of many to receive this life-transforming care.