Did you know that the health care heroes you support through Corus World Health are nearly all from the countries and towns where they work?
It’s true.
And it means that our doctors, nurses, medical technicians, nutritionists and other health workers have experienced the same challenges as their patients.
You’ve read about the nurses working in our mobile clinics in Yemen, who had to flee their homes to escape violence, just like the desperate families they treat. And you’ve heard about the midwives in the Democratic Republic of Congo who oversee emergency and complicated deliveries in the health centers where they once gave birth to their own children.
In South Sudan, our trusted nutrition promoter Mary Nyadala Maker endured a harrowing journey for her own survival. Now, thanks to compassionate people like you, she supports and cares for families who endured the same hardships.
Mary is originally from a village called Bana. Her husband was tragically killed by armed forces when he was out foraging for food. Even though the civil war in South Sudan officially ended in 2020, ongoing tensions left the world’s newest country volatile and dangerous.
Mary, who was pregnant when her husband was killed, remained in Bana, living in relative safety with her other children. But just months later, severe floods devastated the region, including Mary’s village.
Weeks after she had given birth to her daughter, Nunca, Mary fled the flooded village. She walked for five days with her newborn daughter and three other children to the nearest, largest town called Ayod.
By the time Mary and her children made it to Ayod, they were weak, hungry and thirsty — and baby Nunca was severely malnourished. Mary had been on the move for days with little time or nourishment to breastfeed.
Thanks to kind friends like you, Mary was welcomed by a Corus World Health team, who admitted her to a nutrition program as a participant.
Mary was grateful and proud to be part of the program. “[They] provided me with a different kind of food and my daughter was able to eat,” Mary said. “All the mothers and children who were malnourished before are now better.”
When the nutrition promoters in Ayod needed reinforcements to care for the multitude of desperate families arriving in Ayod, they immediately thought of Mary, who was happy to join the team.
And because you have so generously stood by the nutrition team, Mary was able to get the training she needed to become part of the Corus World Health team, helping to expand and extend this lifesaving care in a place where need greatly outweighs the support available.
Today, Mary spends her days walking from home to home, teaching families about nutrition and how to keep their children healthy.
Mary’s new skills are all thanks to compassionate friends like you, who care about equipping hardworking health workers to save lives. Thank you.