In November 2007 Anchorage doctor Jack Hickel and nurse Lori Gibbons visited a
remote village in southern Sudan. They we're in the village of Old Fangak at the
invitation of Dr. Jill Seaman. What they found was even more desperate than they
could have imagined. In just a ten day period Jack and Lori watched several
villagers die from preventable diseases and malnutrition. Jack and Lori came
home to Alaska convinced that Alaskans can do something to help these people in
their hour of need.
Through friends and word of mouth a team has been assembled and a plan put into action. The mission of the Alaskan team is to build a health center, dig water wells and build a latrine system. It's an ambitious project in an extremely remote area without clean water, sanitation, roads, electricity or infrastructure. The people here maintain a very traditional lifestyle on an island in the middle of the largest swamp in the world. There is very little here except poverty and disease. more about Old Fangak...
Currently in Old Fangak there is no reliable physical structure in which to provide medical care. The physical structure in which medical care is currently being provided is soon to be re-claimed by the new government of southern Sudan for its use. What Old Fangak does have is a dedicated friend from Alaska. Her name is Dr. Jill Seaman.
Christmas in Old Fangak
The menu of diseases of Sudan includes malaria, leprosy, tuberculosis, kala-azar, brucellosis, trachoma, meningitis, measles, whooping cough, infectious hepatitis, syphilis and now HIV. Only one doctor, and no permanent health clinic. Jill's friends and new friends like you are coming to help.
