Indianapolis, Indiana … “There is no competition among lighthouses,” is a phrase often quoted by those who work for the good of humanity. This theme has been put into practice in recent months as the Malawi Project turned to its major medical supply contributors for help in the establishment of a clinic in the new nation of South Sudan.
“We were honored when a group from the Mt. Juliet Church of Christ near Nashville, Tennessee sought our advise and assistance during the formation of the Sudan Project,” reports Richard Stephens, one of the founders of the Malawi Project. “The Sudan Project” developed along similar lines as the Malawi Project to aid the fledgling nation of South Sudan. We are always excited when anyone honors our approach to the degree they want to imitate it, or ask for our assistance.”
In 2011 Suzi Stephens RN, the Malawi Project’s Medical Director was asked to help design and outfit a new medical facility in South Sudan. She immediately turned to her contacts at World Emergency Relief , The Universal Aide Society, and Compassionate Warehouse who lent a hand with the creation of a clinic in Pajok, a tiny trading center near the Ugandan border.
South Sudan was just weeks old as an independent nation, and hundreds of thousands of refugees were pouring back across the border into the country from refugee camps in neighboring nations. “Healthcare was, and still is, at a critical issue,” Stephens reports, “in fact, it is nearly non-existent in rural areas. No one turned us down,” from beds and mattresses, to band-aids and gauze strips, from weight scales to malaria medicine, the help poured in. The Sudan Project constructed the building in record time, and the door was opened for the healthcare facility.”
In a recent trip to South Sudan Stephens was able to see the clinic in operation as hundreds of people each week find hope for healthcare in the brand new, well stocked, medical building in Pajok. “It is true,” she notes. “There is no competition among lighthouses when the need to help people arises. We are all in this together.