Give Me Life

By Chol Giel

“I was so eager to hear your story and memories flooded into my heart and mind, taking me
back to those hard walks, long chats and lives served together.

I know our motivation was good and we really longed to serve and to love those who had
suffered so much.

This book captures some of the stories told from a dear friend and colleague Dr Chol
Obuonyo Giel. Secondly, I think this book is so important and it captures an important time.”
Sheryl Haw, 27th March, 2017

“I believe this is a great contribution to documenting humanitarian work in Chollo Kingdom
and indeed all over South Sudan.

It is also an invaluable contribution to documenting experiences in our largely oral
intellectual family of South Sudan.”

Dr Lam Akol Ajawin, Friday 21st, April, 2017

“It’s amazing to see how Dr Chol in this book has managed so well to give us the bigger
picture and developments, as well as the insight in all the detailed human stories. Overall
what stands out to me from my time in South Sudan is Dr Chol’s love for his people, his co-
workers and his service to the communities.

This is a wonderful book for future generations, which highlights God’s work through Dr
Chol and Medair for the Chollo people and communities. Dr Chol’s humble, committed and
faithful service to God and his people is something I have never forgotten and which has
always been an example for me to cherish, remember and follow. I trust it will be the same
for you after reading this book.”

David and Inge Verboom, April 22, 2017

• Language: English
• Publisher: Chol Giel
• Release date: Nov 22, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463866573

Chol Giel

The author is a holder of Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene [DTM&H], from the Liverpool University [2001] and Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery [M.B.B.S.], from the University of Juba [1985].Currently, he is working as a lecturer in the Faculty of Medicine and Nursing, Upper Nile University that he joined in March, 2015.Previously, he worked as a relief worker with MEDAIR [1995 – 2002], Tearfund [2002 – 2015], Relief Association for Southern Sudan [RASS “1993 – 1994”], and Medical Emergency Response [MER “1994 – 1995”].Before joining humanitarian work, he had worked with the University of Juba [1988 – 1993], and the Sudan Ministry of Health [1986 – 1988].As an Intern, Medical Officer, Tutor, Registrar, Medical Coordinator, Team Leader, Project Coordinator, Area Coordinator, National Partners Coordinator, and Lecturer; he served in the following cities or towns or areas: Khartoum (1986 – 1987), el Obeid (1987 – 1988), Juba (1988), Omdurman (1989 – 1990), Nairobi (1990 – 1993), Leer (1994), Tonga (1995), Aburoc (1996 – 1999), Oriny (1999 – 2007), Aweil South (2004), Kodok (2007 – 2010), Uror (2010 – 2013) and Juba (2014 to date).The author hails from Doleib Hill station (his birth place), Panyidway Payam, Panyikang County, Upper Nile State, South Sudan.

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Dedication

I dedicate this book to the memories of my parents - for their exceptional love, care and encouragement; and to my dear son Achwany, a painful, sudden loss at a very tender age.

The book is also dedicated to my dear wife Naomi for her sufficient love, care and strength for a family of eight people. Naomi, you are the source of my strength, focus in life and a lasting joy in my heart.

Special dedications to my sons, daughters and grandchildren for their constant love, care, prayer and encouragement that fuelled me to carry on, even during the toughest times and periods of my life. You girls and boys are true joys to my heart and reasons for me to persevere in life.

CONTENTS

Dedication

Preface

Acknowledgements

Introduction

LIST OF ACRONYMS & ABBREVIATIONS

MAP OF SUDAN

MAP OF SOUTH SUDAN

MAP OF CHOLLO LAND

PART 1 MEDAIR, THE CHRISTIAN-BASED NGO

Chapter 1

MEDAIR’s Background

MEDAIR Entering Sudan

Chapter 2

In MEDAIR’s Bigger Family: 1995 – 2002

PART 2 MEDAIR Operation Bases in Mid-West Upper Nile (MWUN)

Chapter 3

Mid-West Upper Nile (MWUN)

MEDAIR in Tonga, 1995

Chapter 4

MEDAIR in Aburoc: 1996 – 1999

Assessment trip, July & August 1996

Settling in Aburoc: Sept 1996 – 1999

A Courtesy Call on the King in Fashoda

Maize Farm

Chapter 5

MEDAIR in Oriny: 1999 – 2002

PART 3 IMPLEMENTED PROJECTS: 1995 -2002

Chapter 6

Health Worker Training, 1995 – 2001 85

Chapter 7

Community-based Projects: (ADCs, TBAs and HPs)

Chapter 8

Primary Healthcare Units (PHCUs): 1995 – 2002

Chapter 9

Primary Healthcare Centre (PHCC): 1997 – 2002

Chapter 10

Eye Campaigns, 1998 – 2001 110

Chapter 11

Diagnostic Services

Chapter 12

Immunisation, 2001 – 2002

Chapter 13

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH): 1997 – 2002

PART 4 LEADERSHIP, TRAINING AND SECURITY INCIDENTS

Chapter 14

Teams, Management and Leadership

Chapter 15

MEDAIR Training, Seminars & Courses

Chapter 16

Security Incidents & Evacuations

Tonga and Aburoc

Pariang via Aburoc

Tragic Events and Sad Moments

A child and the grenade, Aburoc

Oliw and Sister Nyamijwok, Aburoc

PART 5 GREAT AND MEMORABLE FIELD MOMENTS

Chapter 17

MAF Saving Lives from the Air

Chapter 18

Growth of my Faith: 1995 – 2001

Chapter 19

Additional Skills I Learned: 1995 – 2001

Chapter 20

Hide and Seek

Chapter 21

Pets and the MEDAIR Family

Mark and Lenny, beloved pets: Oriny, 2000 – 2001 188

Chapter 22

A Vibrant Church’s Life Cut Short So Soon!

Chapter 23

Rural Serenity

Chapter 24

MEDAIR and the Indigenous NGOs

Chapter 25

Exit from Chollo Kingdom

CHAPTER 26

Thanks and Gratitude

CONCLUSION

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Preface

After an 11-year lull of peace and stability (1972 – 1983) in the Democratic Republic of Sudan, following the first liberation struggle championed by the Anyanya / South Sudan Liberation Movement (1955 – 1972), the second liberation struggle by the Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Movement and the Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Army (SPLM/SPLA) was born in the 2nd half of 1983.

In the first three years of its establishment, the SPLM/SPLA succeeded in controlling a sizeable part of the rural border areas adjacent to the Ethiopian and Kenyan borders, with Sudan creating a massive displacement of civilians into towns controlled by the Government of Sudan (GOS) and/or into those border countries, depending on which was closest to the people escaping the current conflict.

By 1987, nearly four years into the struggle, the entire rural Chollo Kingdom on both sides of the Kir (White Nile), Onyal (Zeraf) and Atulpi (Sobat) rivers, except for the towns of Malakal, Kodok and Wadakona, fell under the control of the SPLM/SPLA forces, including the stations of Tonga and Atar. As a result, many rural Chollo populations were displaced to GOS-controlled towns in the South and in the North of the country.

The capture of the rural Chollo land from North to South severely disrupted the few essential services (mainly health and education) that had existed in Detwok, Acaki, Lul, Wau, Owaci, Doleib Hill, Atar, Pakwar and Tonga locations, prior to the eruption of the second civil war in Sudan.

In the period between 1983 and 1988, the SPLM-controlled rural and urban areas had no meaningful, essential services such as healthcare, water and sanitation, education facilities, food security and livelihoods, just to mention a few. This was chiefly due to a lack of capacity by the SPLM/A as far as humanitarian assistance was concerned. The little resources the movement had acquired as assistance from friendly countries like Libya and Ethiopia were purely reserved for military purposes and execution of the war.

The launch of Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS) in April 1989 marked the beginning of massive humanitarian assistance to war-affected populations of South Sudan, that was held up in SPLM-controlled or administrative areas. It was a period when many International Non-Governmental Organisations (INGOs) flocked to South Sudan from the West to initiate relief assistance to the needy South-Sudanese in the SPLM administrative areas.

The expected OLS and heavy INGOs’ presence in South Sudan necessitated the re-organisation and restructuring of the Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Association (SRRA). The SPLM relief wing that had existed before the launch of the OLS coordinated and oversaw the incoming massive relief assistance for the SPLM administrative areas.

However, fairness, justice, equity and inclusivity were questionable parameters that characterised the SRRA mandate from as early as its inception, specifically regarding which SPLM-administered areas were to be prioritised for relief assistance. There was an unfair concentration of INGOs in some SPLM-liberated areas when others had none. For instance, the rural Chollo land was liberated in 1987 but only received relief assistance years after the SPLM/SPLA split into two factions in 1991.

The same SRRA scenario was repeated by the Relief Association for Southern Sudan (RASS) from 1991 to 1993. During that period, RASS prioritised Nasir, Waat, Akobo, Fangak and Leer administrative areas over the Mid-West Upper Nile (MWUN) or Chollo rural administrative areas. Based on these two scenarios, one can conclude that politics prevailed over the humanitarian actions, attitudes and decisions of both organisations (SRRA and RASS).

It was not until the inception of Fashoda Relief and Rehabilitation Association (FRRA), as the relief wing of the SPLM united in the second half of 1992, when the war-affected Chollo people started to be prioritised for relief assistance.

In December 1994, the Italian-based NGO, Comitato Collaborazione Medica (CCM), championed the healthcare assistance to the Chollo war-affected people in Tonga. Two months later, MEDAIR joined CCM in Tonga to assist with rolling out the largest ever healthcare service in the Chollo Kingdom.

This book narrates in detail the entry into, the service in and the exit of MEDAIR from the Chollo land.

Dr Chol O. Giel

Acknowledgements

I would like to acknowledge the people that have, in one way or the other contributed ideas, comments, corrections, or deletions to some parts of the book at the early stage of its formulation.

My special respect and gratitude to Dr Lam Akol Ajawin for suggesting a modification of the title, and for his valuable contributions, comments, corrections and deletions of some parts of the manuscript.

I also owe special thanks to Sheryl Haw for her encouragement and appreciation of me documenting the work of MEDAIR among the Chollo people.

My special gratitude further goes to John Awin Ajak and Eric Fewster for their valuable corrections and contributions to some facts in certain parts of the book that had to do with their active involvement.

Last but not least are my special thanks and respect for my daughters and sons – Advocate Benen, Bedajwok, Dr Nyail, Worjwok, Joseph and David for being the first readers of the manuscript, and for their encouragement, and valuable partial corrections at an early stage of writing the book.

Without the valuable contributions of these different people, the book wouldn’t have taken its current and final readable shape.

Introduction

Landing in Tonga for the first time was like coming home for me. The airstrip was some distance away from the community and so a hot walk across a stream and through hard-baked footpaths was the first challenge.

The community meetings that followed ended with an extraordinary welcome and an invitation to stay. This was backed up with the offer for MEDAIR to restore some of the old church/mission buildings to use as its home compound. We quickly turned it into a wonderful place to share, not only with one another in the tukuls made in the yard but with the bats and a few pesky snakes.

One of our main priorities was to develop an extensive healthcare coverage of the Shilluk region through the setup of healthcare points. To this end, we invited the community to appoint Community HealthCare Workers from each place in the region to be trained, equipped and sent out. Those that attended the series of courses we ran became dear friends and for me, was one of the most enjoyable aspects of the programme.

Hundreds of patients were seen and treated. Of course, those that stick out in your mind are the ones that required all our love and energy to care for:

The young boy bitten by a snake that we cared for, for nearly 24 hours before he died.

The man who stepped on a landmine while walking along the banks of the Nile. We fought for his life all night as we arranged for ICRC to collect him in the morning. The long walk to the airstrip meant the community had to take turns carrying his stretcher.

The lady who was carried for two days while in labour. We sadly had to remove her stillborn baby by collapsing its head, so it could be delivered.

The fisherman bitten by a hippo.

The young teenager with an immense tumour on her neck.

The many with TB and Kala-azar whom we successfully managed to treat - thanks to a partnership with MSF.

I remember the night we were sent an urgent message that a new-born child was sick. Dr Jackie Hill and I jumped onto motorbikes and drove to the village. On arrival we rushed into the tukul and examined the baby, only to be told we were in the wrong tukul. I still laugh about this today as the mother seemed fine for these two strangers to rush in and care for her perfectly well child.

It was so hard to leave when we were forced to evacuate because of the civil war. Harder still, was when the very people who pointed guns at us, were the very same people who had attended our training and Bible studies.

MEDAIR had not just been present to deliver aid programmes; it had been a part of the lives of the people. Friendships evolved, we laughed and cried together. However, we failed to learn the language and so missed so many of the stories of the people.

This book captures some of the stories told by a dear friend and colleague, Dr Chol Obuonyo Giel. Thank you for your selfless service and enduring friendship.

Sheryl Haw

LIST OF ACRONYMS & ABBREVIATIONS

ADC Area Development Committee

AMREF African Medical Research Foundation

BT British Time

CBM Christophel Blinden Mission

CBMI Christophel Blinden Mission International

CBO Community-based Organisation

CCM Comitato Collaborazione Medica (Italian International NGO)

Cdr Commander (SPLA)

CHE Community Health Education

CHW Community Health Worker

C-in-C Commander in Chief (SPLA)

CJ Charlie Juliet

CPA Comprehensive Peace Agreement

DTM&H Diploma in Tropical Medicine & Hygiene

E. Africa East Africa

EAT East African Time

EPI Expanded Programme on Immunisation

EUN Eastern Upper Nile

FG Focus Group

FRRA Fashoda Relief & Rehabilitation Association

GBP Great British Pound

GOS Government of Sudan

HF High Frequency

HM His Majesty

HP Hygiene Promotion

HWT Health Worker Training

ICRC International Committee of the Red Cross

IDP Internally Displaced Person

KJ Kilo Juliet

KLM Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V. (A Royal Dutch Airline)

LLITN Long-lasting Insecticide Treated Net

Loki Lokichoggio

LWF Lutheran World Federation

MAF Mission Aviation Fellowship

MCH Maternal Child Health

MCHW Maternal Child Health Worker

MEDAF Medicines for Africa

MEDAIR Medical & Environmental with Air Assistance

MJ Mike Juliet

MSH Medicines sans Frontiers

MWUN Mid-West Upper Nile

INGO International Non-governmental Organisation

NGO Non-governmental Organisation

OLS Operation Lifeline Sudan

OT Operative Theatre

PACT Parallel Architectures and Compilation Techniques (Water Drilling NGO)

PD Programme Director

PHC Primary Healthcare

PHCC Primary Healthcare Centre

PHCU Primary Healthcare Unit

PVC Polyvinyl Chloride

RASS Relief Association of Southern Sudan

R&R Rest & Recuperation

SAF Sudan Armed Forces

SCPE Sudan Certificate of Primary Education

SPLM/A Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Movement/Army

SPLM/A-U Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Movement/Army-United

SRRA Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Association

SSIM/A South Sudan Independence Movement/Army

TBA Traditional Birth Attendant

TEARFUND The Evangelical Alliance for Relief Fund

TROP Tropical

TT Tetanus Toxoid

UK United Kingdom

UN United Nations

UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund

USA United States of America

USD United States Dollar

VDC Village Development Committee

VHF Very High Frequency

WASH Water, Sanitation & Hygiene

WATSAN Water & Sanitation

WFP World Food Programme (UN)

WUN Western Upper Nile

YWAM Youth with a Mission

MAP OF SUDAN

MAP OF SOUTH SUDAN

MAP OF CHOLLO LAND

Part 1: MEDAIR, The Christian-Based NGO

Chapter 1

MEDAIR’s Background

MEDAIR Entering Sudan

Chapter 2

In MEDAIR’s Bigger Family: 1995 - 2002

CHAPTER 1

MEDAIR’S BACKGROUND

MEDAIR is an international NGO of humanitarian aid with a stated mission, To respond to and relieve human suffering in some of the world’s most remote and devastated places.

MEDAIR provides emergency relief and recovery services including Health and Nutrition; Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, and Shelter and Infrastructure.

MEDAIR lists its values as Hope, Compassion, Dignity, Accountability, Integrity, and Faith.

As per Josiane Volkmar, the author of Bread and Salt: The History of MEDAIR, and its co-founder; MEDAIR was conceived as a proposal on the 10th of June 1987 during a 12-person meeting in a holiday house known as La Bessonnaz in Lignerolle, Vaud, Switzerland. The twelve persons though representing five different nations, viz., USA, Germany, France, Sweden and Switzerland, five different languages; English, German, French, Swedish and Romansh, five different Churches; Anglican, Lutheran, Pentecostal, Brethren, and Free Evangelical, and five different continental and/or regional work experiences; Europe, Africa, Middle East, Central Asia and South Asia, had one thing in common – ‘The Missionary Experience.’

The 12 members represented three Missions – the Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF), Medicines for Africa (MEDAF) and Youth with a Mission (YWAM). In that gathering on 10 June, given their different missionary backgrounds, and purely guided by the spirit of God, they laid the partnership foundations that had to be approved in the high executive offices of their Missions. The Partnership Foundations embodied the goals, the profession of faith and the elements of the charter for MEDAIR.

The 12-person meeting concluded with the formulation of a nine-member committee, with each partner or Mission represented by three members. They agreed to get together again in Amsterdam, Netherlands, in October, that same year. In the interim, this committee was tasked with specific objectives: to design the logo; to suggest the motto, and to work out the mandate of MEDAIR.

As such, two distinct colours, red and purple, were accepted for the logo. ‘Dynamic of Unity in Action’ became the motto of MEDAIR. With major similarities to the current mission stated at the beginning of the text, the foundational MEDAIR mandate was described as: A response to human suffering in emergency and disaster situations by providing a Christian presence and qualified technical assistance.

In 1994, after seven years of great efforts in trying to operate in partnership with the three mother-mission organisations, MEDAIR finally became independent after realising and concluding that it was an impossible mission.

Genuine reasons supported MEDAIR going independent. While MAF was founded on very solid technical expertise and operated with a pyramidal structure, MEDAF had a circle of friends with the sole aim of supporting the worldwide missionary hospitals, and YWAM was as a network focused on training young people for missionary service.

As mentioned by Josiane in her book,

Throughout the 1994 and 1995, main changes are put into concrete form. Warren Lancaster, Andy Tanswell and David Verboom, using their managerial skills, devise a plan for structuring the organization. This plan is presented to the committee, analysed, corrected and modified into a useful and suitable structure corresponding to what MEDAIR has come to be. The structural changes are accepted at the General Assembly in April 1995.

In short, the above narrative explains how MEDAIR was conceived, how it collaborated as a partner of the three missions in the early years of its foundation and how it later developed into an independent Christian-based charitable organisation with a global orientation and presence.

MEDAIR ENTERING SUDAN

In June 1988, the three partners, MAF, MEDAF and YWAM met with the Volkmars, Erik and Josiane and proposed Uganda as the first location for MEDAIR’s intervention. With Erik Volkmar proposed as the Uganda Project Director, a survey visit to Uganda was undertaken in September. The committee then held its first meeting to review and deliberate over the survey’s report and concluded that a project should begin in the Teso area, North Eastern Uganda, in October – just one month after conducting the survey and four months after proposing Uganda.

In July 1989, the Teso project in Uganda came to an end and Sudan fell on MEDAIR’s radar as the next location for intervention.

At the end of 1987, Mr Pre-Arne, the Director of YWAM East Africa, based in Uganda at the time, started to pray and intercede for Sudan. Mr Pre-Arne in his prayer and intercession was motivated by the persecution of Christians and Animists of South Sudan – a people already battling displacement, refuge and calamities of famine and disease as a result of the second civil war perceived as between the Arab and Muslim North, and the Christian and Animist South that erupted in May 1983.

In December 1989, as a result of his persistent prayer, God responded by granting him and Erik Volkmar, an opportunity to