The Pride of Dari
Great Mundri – South Sudan
Elena Gelormino wrote the following words on the 18th of January while looking for special funding from the Health Pooled Fund (HPF) to help the small community of Dari in their fight to survive every day:
‘Dari Payam is in Mvolo County, Western Equatoria State, South Sudan. The village of Dari is located at the northeastern border of Great Mundri, where Central Equatoria lies between the Lakes and the Western Equatoria States.
Dari is reachable only via Lakamadi (Mundri East County). In this case, talking about roads in Dari Payam is misleading. There are no roads, just paths. The car passes over the path followed by pedestrians and bicycles, opening its own way across the grass of the rainy season. In this season, the main problem isn’t the grass but the mud that is able to stop every vehicle: cars, motorbikes, and bicycles.
There was a primary health care unit (PHCU) in Dari, built by the community some years ago, and they were very proud of it. There is also a primary school there, with many beautiful children playing around it. At present, however, no teachers are working there; they don’t get any salary and they volunteer sometimes. Therefore, the school can’t work because of a lack of human resources, while the primary health care unit can’t work because it collapsed for flooding during the last rainy season.
Lack of human resources and lack of a building – two main weak points have given rise to a strong point in the community. They soon moved all the functionalities of the health facility to an unused room at the school, and the health staff never stopped their duty. Despite the economic and natural adversities, they continue working and improving their performance.
When I met the community representatives in the shade of the mango tree, they explained to me what they had already done to build a new facility: thousands of burned bricks, mahogany woodcut, and the area for construction cleaned from grass and flattened.
During the silence of a ceremony, the chief of Dari, the Sultan, Mr Michael, stood up and walked up to me. An old man, right on his legs, proud of a life spent for the family and the community, with a light tremor of the hands. With the astonishing dignity of a true leader, he put down in my hands the handwritten proposal for rebuilding a new facility, not begging but proposing.
“The community and the Sultan of Dari made their move, and I got their proposal. Now it is up to us, and they deserve it.”’ – With these words, Elena closed her request to HPF on behalf of the Sultan.
After a while, she heard the good news that their request was accepted in London. When the logistician went back to Dari with the constructor to start the building, he, a very strong man from Nigeria, called her, touched by the happiness of the community: “They are so happy Ma’am! It’s great!”
Later, she went to them to assess the ongoing work and to get a confirmation of the community’s commitment. The Sultan was resolute in the decision and the community’s youngest members proudly and publicly committed themselves to work gratuitously with the construction workers to speed up the building of the new PHCU.
By the end of March 2023, the PHCU was almost completed. They planned to move the furniture and the devices in, and the new health facility would start. The local staff showed professionalism and commitment: They will do well, and the old Sultan will be happy and proud to have given a big present to his people.
