THE DELIVERY THAT BEAT THE CLOCK

Medical Supplies by Plane | South Sudan 
In Kapoeta, South Sudan, the nearest health facility can be a three-day walk away. 
When one-year-old Lopit became seriously ill, he didn’t have three days. 
But a plane had already brought help much closer to home.

Photography: Tommy Trenchard/Save the Children

THE NIGHT EVERYTHING CHANGED

“He had a high fever. It shocked me a lot. So we took his clothes and wet them so he could sleep. Lopit refused to eat and was vomiting. He was even unable to talk.”
– Nakai, Lopit's mum

After three years of drought and failed harvests, Lopit was already malnourished.

Now he was struggling to breathe.

The nearest health facility: three days on foot. 

Save the Children’s mobile clinic: 45 minutes.

Nakai, 26, laughs with her one-year-old son Lopit* outside their home in their village in Kapoeta, South Sudan

THE JOURNEY

The journey began in Save the Children’s warehouse in Juba.

Supplies were loaded onto a charter plane, flown across South Sudan, then carried on by 4x4 along rough tracks to isolated villages.

“Of course, they are very expensive, but it is the quickest way of delivering services or supplies to communities that really need them.”
– Timothy Kalugye, Head of Supply Chain

When roads become impassable, the fastest route to a child can be through the sky.

Medical and other humanitarian supplies are loaded onto a truck at a Save the Children warehouse in Juba, South Sudan
A plane chartered by Save the Children takes off from the airport in Juba carrying a load of medical and other humanitarian supplies to a field location
Tent poles and tarpaulins are unloaded from a truck at a mobile health clinic site in Kapoeta, South Sudan

WHAT WAS DELIVERED?

The shipment weighed three tonnes.
But its true value was measured in lives.

Save the Children program coordinator Lim Bol holds a box of supplies at the site of a mobile health clinic in Kapoeta, South Sudan , image

Inside were antibiotics, vaccines and fortified peanut paste to treat malnutrition.

Medical supplies used at a Save the Children-supported mobile health clinic in Kapoeta, South Sudan , image

Alongside them were the tents, poles and chairs needed to build a clinic from scratch.

BRINGING HEALTHCARE TO THE CHILD

Each clinic brings together nurses, a midwife, vaccinators, nutrition assistants, a pharmacist and other specialists, so families can get a full range of care in a single visit.

“Save the Children is currently the only organisation providing this primary healthcare service in the area.”
– Lim Bol, Health and Nutrition Coordinator

Since May, 636 children with malnutrition in Kapoeta East have received lifesaving treatment through this programme.

Clinical officer Elizabeth interacts with a patient at a Save the Children-supported mobile health clinic in Kapoeta, South Sudan
Lim Bol with 26-year-old Nakai and her one-year-old son Lopit*, who is being treated at a mobile health clinic in Kapoeta, South Sudan
One-year-old Lopit* receives medication through an IV catheter at a mobile health clinic in Kapoeta, South Sudan

LOPIT TODAY

At the clinic, Lopit was diagnosed with malnutrition, pneumonia and malaria. He was given antibiotics and a week’s supply of peanut paste. 
By the end of the week, he was eating again. 

“He is now okay. He no longer has a fever. I even started giving him food. I feel okay now my boy is okay.” – Nakai

One-year-old Lopit* eats Plumpy'Nut with his mother Nakai during a visit to a Save the Children-supported mobile health clinic in Kapoeta, South Sudan

ONE DELIVERY.
MORE TIME FOR CHILDHOOD.

A box of medicine doesn’t just treat illness. It creates possibility: of recovery, of growth, of a future. 
Sometimes the delivery that matters most is the one that arrives before hope runs out. 

£35 could give a child like Lopit a week of lifesaving treatment for malnutrition. 

This Christmas, make one more delivery that matters: Donate now

Your donation will help children in the UK and around the world, wherever the need is greatest. 

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