Access to healthcare in South Sudan is severely limited, with only 1 doctor for every 65,000 people, and in rural areas, health facilities barely exist. Decades of conflict have created a mental health crisis with an estimated 1.2 million people with mental illness left untreated. 

The Sisters of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Loreto) have been running Primary and Secondary schools since 2008 in the rural Maker Kuei community and set up a class-room clinic to address some of the community’s urgent medical needs. Overwhelming demand led to the opening of the Mary Ward Primary Health Care Centre in 2019 to provide full medical services including mental healthcare, counselling, immunisations, and mother and child clinics.

In 2021 the Centre held over 36,000 patient consultations and more than 3,000 children received vital childhood vaccinations. Through a childhood nutrition programme, over 200 children under five were treated for malnutrition, successfully leaving the programme after three months having shown great improvement in their health.  A mobile clinic enabled remote access to medical treatment for 24,000 patients in 7 remote villages. 

Thanks to the Centre, children and adults affected by trauma after decades of war and conflict are now receiving counselling and learning how to cope with stress, depression, chronic fear, death, and grief.