Looming problems

Several of our teachers bring their small children to school with them each day.  One of these little ones was taken ill suddenly on Tuesday and her mother took her to hospital.  Her mother found that the hospital staff were all on strike because they haven’t been paid and were therefore refusing to treat patients.  The child died in her arms.  I have heard that there were many other deaths too.  The strike is ongoing.

Note: since writing this post I have heard more about the hospital crisis.  Merlin Foundation, a small NGO has been operating Nimule Hospital for years.  They are about to hand over to Save the Children.  Unfortunately there have been administrative hiccups, including transfer of contracts for staff.  This has resulted in a gap in which the staff remain unpaid, neither employed by Merlin or by Save the Children.  The fact that both these charities are supposed to support children makes the death of this child tragically ironic.

The hospital has poor facilities at the best of times, so it is quite possible that the child would have died anyway.  There is no way of knowing what the cause of death was because the mortuary has no electricity and therefore can’t keep bodies for an autopsy.

The day after she died, we attended the funeral.  The funeral was held outside the hut where the family live.  Two pastors read comforting readings and the body, wrapped in a sheet, was lowered into the small hole just next to the hut.  The family were grief-stricken and many were weeping.  The whole occasion was very pathetic. 

Like the hospital staff, the teachers haven’t been paid since the beginning of term earlier this year.  Much as I might complain about their teaching methods, at least they have soldiered on and continue to come and teach.  But what will their families live on in the meantime? 

Further away in Juba a few weeks ago there was a riot at one of the army barracks because of lack of pay.  The results there were far worse because of access to guns.  Two hundred soldiers died in the fighting in their own barracks.  Thankfully the government’s priorities meant that this has not been repeated; soldiers at least get paid now, so bloodbaths elsewhere should be avoided.

I have been told that there is a similar picture of lack of pay at the police station.  People warn each other not to bother with the police because they will not act without a bribe.  The same is now true at the border checkpoint.

Last week a large consignment of wage packets was looted between Juba and Nimule and all the money was taken.  The vehicle was only left because the looters did not know how to drive it.

I read the news from the UN this week.  They are warning of an impending famine due to the conflict.  The reasons given are that it displaced so many people and stopped them from planting or tending their cattle.  The report did not mention the lack of pay, but this seems to me to be part of the same picture.  We will all be tightening our belts and hoping for the best.