Pre-COVID19 Notes from the Field - New hope for Sudan’s Jebel Marra
My name is Mohammed Ahmed Gelal Eldin. I am Sudanese and live in Khartoum, Sudan. Currently, I am a United Nations Volunteer based in UNICEF Sudan’s Nyala field office where I work as a monitoring officer. During our mission from the 12 th of February to the 15 th , UNICEF team and myself, were heading to Jebel Marra in South Darfur. It was my…, The exhaustion and mixed emotions suddenly dropped away and turned into commitment to my people., We immediately began our assessment and did interviews with women, children and local leaders. This included health screenings to find signs of malnutrition., Children being measured with MUAC to see nutrition rates We started the health screenings for the children as soon as we arrived to asses if they are suffering from malnutrition and other illnesses., After assessing the situation, we found that many children under-five were stunted and had fluoride deficiency. Access to water is limited as only five out of fifteen water hand-pumps were working; women usually have to walk or travel by donkey for up to three hours to fetch water. About 1,000 children are out of school, and they only have one…, Mohamed taking notes about the situation in the area with community members The health assessment results showed many children under-five were stunted and had fluoride deficiency., It is clear that this area has been quite neglected for a long time, however, after the assessment, UNICEF and its Non-Government Organization (NGO) partners are committed to work with the local authorities to provide the necessary protection, education, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) and health services to help ensure that no child is left…