When Barbara Connor flew to Duk County in southern Sudan, it wasn't the smoothest ride. The plane was small, and the airstrip where she landed was a dirt path.
Sam Tenney / The CitizenThe Rev. Craig Lindsey, Dr. Barbara Connor, Peggy Surdam and Jack Howard, all members of the American Care For Sudan Foundation, gather in the sanctuary of Skaneateles First Presbyterian Church Monday morning. The foundation, which is associated with the church, built a medical clinic in Duk County in southern Sudan.
Then, she had to take a 75-mile ride through back roads in a pickup truck.
“There are no roads, no vehicles,” Connor said. “You look down, and there is nothing down there.”
But when she made it to her final destination, Connor saw a smooth operation. A medical clinic, which was built a year prior, had a full staff and resources that were still growing.
Connor is the medical director of the Duk Lost Boys Clinic. Built in May 2007, the clinic is run by the American Care For Sudan Foundation, which is associated with Skaneateles First Presbyterian Church.
As medical director, Connor places the orders for the medicines and hires the staff, doing most of the work over the Internet. She visited the clinic for the first time February as a chance to assess its needs and evaluate its progress.
“I was very impressed,” said Connor, who is an emergency room doctor at Auburn Memorial Hospital. “When I was there, they were seeing 100 patients a day.”
The clinic has a full-time staff of six people. It is led by one of the first Sudanese men to become a doctor after the region emerged from years of devastating war.
According to Connor, the clinic treats a lot of upper respiratory illnesses, malaria, malnutrition and dehydration. It is also providing prenatal care in a place where it is not uncommon to lose a child in or near birth, she said.
“That is a very complete clinic,” Connor said. “We're very proud and excited to have that. They're saving lives.”
Things have not always been so smooth at the Duk Lost Boys Clinic, which is named after the generation of young men displaced by civil wars in Sudan. One of the “Lost Boys” named John Day lives in central New York and was the inspiration for building the clinic.
According to Craig Lindsey, a pastor at Skaneateles First Presbyterian Church, the church sent two 40-foot freight containers filled with the materials last year to erect the building. They promptly disappeared, and no one knew how or where to find them.
Around Valentine's Day, a small group of volunteers flew from New York to Sudan to prepare for construction, despite not knowing the location of the materials, Lindsey said.
“They began staking out the area and preparing the site,” Lindsey said. “Then one night, both the containers drove up.”
Jack Howard, a church member who has been instrumental in starting the clinic and its foundation, said there is still work that needs to be done. The clinic's payroll alone is $7,000 a month. Each month, medicine costs exceed $2,000, he said.
While the church and the American Care For Sudan Foundation have been able to raise money through private donations so far, maintaining the flow will mean networking with non-governmental organizations and other foundations, Howard said.
“You can get donations to build these facilities,” Howard said. “But maintaining them can be very hard.”
On the medical side of its operation, Connor said the clinic has three goals for the near future: establish what is known as a cold chain, which is used to transport and store vaccines; improve the clinic's maternity care to reduce the mortality rate for infants and mothers; and treat infectious diseases like tuberculosis, HIV and AIDS.
It won't be easy, but the clinic has already come very far as it is, Connor said.
“We feel this is very worthwhile,” Connor said. “So little can go so far there. Less than $5 can save a child's life.”
Staff writer Christopher Caskey can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or christopher.caskey@lee.net
“There are no roads, no vehicles,” Connor said. “You look down, and there is nothing down there.”
But when she made it to her final destination, Connor saw a smooth operation. A medical clinic, which was built a year prior, had a full staff and resources that were still growing.
Connor is the medical director of the Duk Lost Boys Clinic. Built in May 2007, the clinic is run by the American Care For Sudan Foundation, which is associated with Skaneateles First Presbyterian Church.
As medical director, Connor places the orders for the medicines and hires the staff, doing most of the work over the Internet. She visited the clinic for the first time February as a chance to assess its needs and evaluate its progress.
“I was very impressed,” said Connor, who is an emergency room doctor at Auburn Memorial Hospital. “When I was there, they were seeing 100 patients a day.”
The clinic has a full-time staff of six people. It is led by one of the first Sudanese men to become a doctor after the region emerged from years of devastating war.
According to Connor, the clinic treats a lot of upper respiratory illnesses, malaria, malnutrition and dehydration. It is also providing prenatal care in a place where it is not uncommon to lose a child in or near birth, she said.
“That is a very complete clinic,” Connor said. “We're very proud and excited to have that. They're saving lives.”
Things have not always been so smooth at the Duk Lost Boys Clinic, which is named after the generation of young men displaced by civil wars in Sudan. One of the “Lost Boys” named John Day lives in central New York and was the inspiration for building the clinic.
According to Craig Lindsey, a pastor at Skaneateles First Presbyterian Church, the church sent two 40-foot freight containers filled with the materials last year to erect the building. They promptly disappeared, and no one knew how or where to find them.
Around Valentine's Day, a small group of volunteers flew from New York to Sudan to prepare for construction, despite not knowing the location of the materials, Lindsey said.
“They began staking out the area and preparing the site,” Lindsey said. “Then one night, both the containers drove up.”
Jack Howard, a church member who has been instrumental in starting the clinic and its foundation, said there is still work that needs to be done. The clinic's payroll alone is $7,000 a month. Each month, medicine costs exceed $2,000, he said.
While the church and the American Care For Sudan Foundation have been able to raise money through private donations so far, maintaining the flow will mean networking with non-governmental organizations and other foundations, Howard said.
“You can get donations to build these facilities,” Howard said. “But maintaining them can be very hard.”
On the medical side of its operation, Connor said the clinic has three goals for the near future: establish what is known as a cold chain, which is used to transport and store vaccines; improve the clinic's maternity care to reduce the mortality rate for infants and mothers; and treat infectious diseases like tuberculosis, HIV and AIDS.
It won't be easy, but the clinic has already come very far as it is, Connor said.
“We feel this is very worthwhile,” Connor said. “So little can go so far there. Less than $5 can save a child's life.”
Staff writer Christopher Caskey can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or christopher.caskey@lee.net
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