Festive Mission to Al Sabah
On 24 December, graduates of Mahad Juba Al-Elmi walked through the pastel corridors of Al Sabah Children’s Hospital, carrying boxes of rice, bottled water and bright sweets.
Their Christmas outreach, first of its kind for the young association founded in July 2025, targeted families unable to leave the wards during the holiday.
Life Inside the Pediatric Ward
Head nurse Catherine Manas said the hospital supplies only therapeutic milk; parents must find the rest.
Some share plates, others skip meals, she noted, adding that any outside kindness ‘makes mothers feel someone remembers them’.
Emotional Support Over Presents
Finance officer Gismalah Abdallah Rihan stressed the visit was less about donations, more about presence beside children fighting malaria, pneumonia or malnutrition.
He and colleagues chatted, sang carols and handed each child a small bag of sweets, hoping to ‘bring a sense of joy’, he said.
Looking Beyond Christmas
Rihan revealed plans for monthly or bimonthly hospital visits, signalling a shift from purely academic networking to sustained community service.
Spokesperson Mariam Alhaj Baballa said Al Sabah was chosen because ‘celebrating Christmas in a hospital is painful’, and paediatrics remain an urgent national concern.
Appeal to Stakeholders
Baballa urged humanitarian agencies, businesses and government departments to strengthen supply chains for food, medicine and equipment, noting recurrent shortages across South Sudanese hospitals.
When children admitted for malaria also show stunting, ‘it tells us we have a food problem,’ she warned, calling for integrated nutrition responses.