School Health Screenings in South Sudan - a New Concept!

School Health Screening in South Sudan In the US most schools require a pre-Kindergarten physical and pre-6th grade physical, with the hopes of catching up all children on their immunizations and catching any significant health problems that haven’t been addressed. Most children have a Sport Physical done before being allowed to participate in school sports – always looking for that unusual heart defect or curvature of the spine (scoliosis) that might show itself in the adolescent. Of course, children are taken to the doctor’s office when sick – but these preventive physicals are designed to pick up the unexpected….and offer doctors an opportunity to counsel and educate the child and their parents on common medical issues for the child’s age group. This week we have been joined by a lively, caring, and fun group of medical people from the US – 1 family doctor, 3 nurses, and a young man interested in public health and nutrition. We have been blessed! We are doing what we are calling School Health Screenings – because we are seeing children who are registered in our United Methodist Nursery and lower Primary Schools here in this area of South Sudan. This is a new concept we are told – but it offers us an invaluable opportunity to examine hundreds of children and collect information on common health problems before meeting with their parents and teachers to consider steps to improve the general health of the communities, especially for the children. Here in South Sudan, one in five children do not live past their 5th birthday! Each morning we leave in a loaded Land Cruiser with Justus at the wheel and head out across the bumpy roads to arrive at the church – welcomed by singing children of the school. After initial introductions and prayers, we transform the church into a clinic – first registering each child with the teachers’ help, then measuring height, weight, and MUAC (mid-upper arm circumference to assess nutritional status). Each child waits patiently for one of us to examine their eyes, ears, throat, teeth, neck, heart, lungs, and skin, as well as feel their bellies to see if malaria has caused their spleen to enlarge. What a joy to see the trust in their eyes – along with a little bit of fear in being examined by the Kawaja (white person). Having “survived the exam,” they walk off to the last station with their exam form in hand and get a dose of Vitamin A and Albendazole (a medicine that treats the most common worms found in the children here). Vitamin A is known to boost the immune system to help healing with infections, and treating the worms every 6 months has been shown to improve growth and reduce anemia in these young children. Monday we saw 191 children at Ligitolo; Wednesday, 144, at Kenyi ; and Friday, 240, at Giru. Monday, the last day for the visiting team, we expected to see only 82 children. But other parents heard we were at the church, so we ended the exams when our forms finished – at 175! Then we compiled the information and met with the Parents and Teachers to discuss the common problems seen. Just as we parents in the US want our children to be strong and healthy and able to learn and grow well, so the parents of South Sudan desire the same. They just haven’t had the opportunity to learn some of the basic health information that we take for granted. At the close of the day, a short skit highlighted the importance of basic hygiene – using a personal face cloth and towel, soap, toothbrush and toothpaste, and a comb to stay clean and promote healthy living. The Health Kits from UMCOR were passed out to each child by the teachers, and our day would come to a close – with the joy of seeing each child skip off to their home with something learned and something to help them on “the road to health!” Every day, we, the team, arrived back home - tired, hot, and yet satisfied, that each child was “loved on” for just a few moments – and they heard “Yesu hibu ita” (Jesus loves you!) And the information gathered will be used to help that child’s community understand how to help the children on the “road to health!” The song, “Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world,” rings in my ears as I survey the school health screenings. No – we haven’t treated every single problems with free medicines as the adults often request – there is a government health facility nearby to which they can go for help. But we have shared the love of Jesus with these precious children, and we have important information to help us educate the community for a better tomorrow! Thank you for our first visiting medical teams! God bless you for the gift of your time, energy, and love!