The story began in August 2007 when two doctors decided they wanted to work in the third world. One of them, Dr Hakim was a Consultant at St Mary’s hospital and was himself of Southern Sudanese origin. He knew many influential people in the Government of Southern Sudan Ministry of Health (GOSS-MOH) and was actively involved in shaping the face of the healthcare system as Sudan emerged from the end of its twenty year bloody civil war.

The other doctor, Dr Attwood had only been qualified for six months. However, during the summer of 2004, he had been to Malawi for four weeks and practiced medicine in a busy hospital. The experience had changed his life forever and he knew that one day he would be heading back to Africa to continue what he had begun.

Both doctors had one thing in common: a love of Africa and a determination to help in whatever way they could. A powerful alliance was born and before long, several other doctors declared their willingness to come along. It became clear from an early stage that people would support this idea. What no one knew was how the idea would evolve.

The two doctors exchanged ideas and Dr Hakim waxed lyrical about the poor standard of services in one particular hospital called Juba, created by lack of equipment and staff. In doing so an idea was born. St Mary’s was often upgrading it’s equipment with the result that old equipment was scrapped. If this functioning equipment could be appropriated then surely it could somehow be sent to Juba? Another thought also occurred to the doctors. Would it also be possible to send staff out there to alleviate the manpower shortage by assisting with training?

Dr Attwood set to work in creating a supply chain that would function in perpetuity with minimal help. He met many helpful people as well. The Estates department gave up a room to store goods in. The Domestic Supervisor agreed to move all old equipment to the store. The Stores Manager agreed to keep all surplus clinical material in his own store. It was clear that the operation was growing exponentially in size and had a huge amount of support. It was now time to make things more official and in doing so gain more credibility. Plans were put into place to twin Juba hospital to St Mary’s.

Dr Attwood approached the Chief Executive of St Mary’s Hospital. The CEO agreed that twinning would be a viable proposal but felt that there needed to be more support from NHS workers before he could agree to do such a thing. A one page flyer was created and Dr Attwood spoke to NHS workers in various different departments, raising awareness, drumming up support, and asking them to donate all surplus material to the storage site.

Whilst raising awareness, it was realised that there were many reasons why staff couldn’t come to South Sudan. Some were worried that they would be working in Darfur which lies over a thousand miles to the North and West of Juba. Others said that they had commitments such as children and mortgages so they couldn’t go for long. It was clear that arrangements had to be made to allow NHS workers enough flexibility to go for short periods of time. Furthermore, they needed accommodation to stay and Juba lacked this. However, the solutions would come in time.

In late September 2007 St Mary’s hospital became the first hospital in Wessex to be twinned with an African hospital. The St Mary’s-Juba Link was born. A website was constructed that provided information about the project. It could also be used a publicity tool, providing an area where potential sponsors and charities could put their logos and be recognised. The International Red Cross and Ministry of Health in South Sudan obliged by sending photos of Juba hospital.

In early October, a meeting was held with the charity, Tropical Health and Education Trust (THET). The volunteers at THET specialised in these genre of projects and highlighted various areas for consideration. They were rather enthusiastic about the project and one of their volunteers said that she would provide dedicated help.

During this time the project underwent it’s first growth spurt. By the beginning of October Jo Hanks had become a regular team member and was making huge strides in the creation of sabbaticals and enlisting support from other companies. However, the addition of a husband and wife team, Mr Tim Walsh and Mrs Zorina Walsh had far reaching consequences. They gave the project a sense of direction and much needed credibility that it had otherwise lacked.

Mr Walsh was a retired Colorectal Surgeon and was Clinical Director at St Mary’s Hospital. He had worked in Bangladesh and had also examined there. His wife, Zorina, had worked as the Post Graduate Centre Manager on the Isle for 17 years. Their experience and personalities would prove invaluable in the creation of a teaching programme in Southern Sudan.

These people formed the five person team that was to run the St Mary’s-Juba Link. Dr Hakim was motivated and had the links to South Sudan, he knew the culture and had links with the Royal College of Physicians. Mr Walsh was an highly influential surgeon but his greatest quality was his methodical nature that brought a focus to the project. Zorina Walsh had links to the Deaneries and had a huge knowledge of how the Post Graduate system worked, having managed it for 17 years. Jo Hanks was an enthusiastic lady who was reliable, dependable and would help with the human resources side of things. In time she would help with the training of nurses in Juba. Dr Attwood had played a prominent role in the creation of the project and had established many links both inside the hospital and in the community.

On the 21st of October 2007 the team had its first meeting and since then has continued to meet once a week. Later on that month, St Mary’s Library became one of the first hospital library’s in the region to have its own Tropical Medicine Books so that NHS workers interested in coming to Juba hospital could develop their knowledge of Tropical Medicine prior to arrival.

It became clear at the beginning of November that the only way to help the situation in Juba was to undertake a fact-finding visit to identify areas of highest need. From that moment , the focus of activities centred around fund-raising for this visit (estimated to cost around £5,000) and promoting the St Mary’s Juba Link. The first test came on Wednesday 28th November when the St Mary’s Juba Link held its first Open night. The speakers delivered lively and enthusiastic speeches and the night was a huge success. Over 70 people came and £1,130 was raised on the night.

Donations came streaming through from members of the general public. The Rotary Clubs on the Isle donated a total of £1,000 whilst the Tropical Health Education Trust (THET) offered funding to the value of £2,000. It became clear that an Accountant was needed and in December 2007, the St Mary’s Team appointed Dr Clare Woodall in the role of Accountant.

Friday 18th January 2008 the St Mary’s Juba Link organised its first Charity Party and St Mary’s Sports and Social Club was stretched to maximum capacity when 175 fun-loving NHS workers flocked in droves to the event. A tombola, with gifts donated from various businesses on the Isle allowed people to win a variety of goods from alcoholic beverages to baked bean tins (mostly alcoholic beverages!). At 9 pm, the highlight of the night began and staff from A&E, Orthopaedics, General Surgery, Urology, Medicine, Radiology, Primary Care, CCU and Management went head-to-head, in fancy dress, to battle for the title of "Champion of the Wheelchair Derby!" The fastest team, which were the Radiology Department were awarded a trophy, whilst the fancy dress award went to Management who were dressed as “Men in SMOCKS!” At 9.30 pm the band, Riptide (with St Mary’s own Consultant Radiologist and electric guitarist, Dr Close), started playing and people were quick to get on the dance floor. A Raffle followed later on where 14 prizes had been donated by various companies on the Isle of Wight to support the project and a lucky member of staff won the star prize of a Holiday to Tenerife in a 4 star hotel for two! The night wound up with another set from Riptide energised the audience with a variety of eclectic songs from various bands. Staff remember the night as one of the best staff parties that was had in a long time and the night featured in the Islands County Press paper. However, for the team at St Mary’s Juba Link, a milestone had been achieved. The event raised over £2,500 which meant that they were going to Juba!

The team met many government officials at the Government of South Sudan Ministry of Health (GoSS MoH), including the Minister of Health. In addition meetings were held with key non government organisations (NGO’s), the UN, the World Health Organisation (WHO), and the United Nations Multi-donor Trust Fund (UNMDTF). After extensive discussions it is clear that this project was feasible, practical, highly cost effective and conformed precisely to the policies expressed by GoSS MoH.

The St Mary's Juba Link has been given full government backing at the highest possible level and is held in the utmost regard by the staff at Juba Hospital. Workers at Juba have described this link as "a link that was created in a dream and has now become a reality." They send the staff at St Mary's their utmost thanks for giving them hope in these times. Later on that March, staff at Juba Teaching Hospital, formed their own team (The Juba Core Team) and held their first meeting to facilitate the Link in Juba. To this date both Core Teams share the minutes of their meetings and regularly communicate by email.

On Friday 11th April 2008, The St Mary’s- Juba Link was given Charitable Status by the Charities Commission and is now recognised as a Charity.

An Open Evening was held on Monday 14th April 2008and was well attended by 40 staff who listened avidly whilst the St Mary’s Core Team presented their findings from the visit to Juba. These results were officially published and sent to South Sudan on Thursday 17th April. The report may also be found on the Home Page of this website.

In May 2008, the Team held discussions with the Management at St Mary’s who pledged to give paid annual leave for one week for six personnel to start with. If this is combined with two weeks of paid annual leave and one week of paid study leave, it will be possible for staff to undertake training in Juba for up to one month, whilst being able to pay their bills in England. As the St Mary’s Juba Link had already pledged to make it cost neutral for staff to go to Juba to undertake clinical training it can be seen that there is little financially to stop staff from going.

Plans are currently underway to build accommodation for staff to stay at whilst on attachment at Juba Teaching Hospital and the St Mary’s Juba Link is raising the money to do this. This is being helped in no small part by the appointment of Terrie Burland as the Link’s new fund-raising manager, a decision that was unanimously agreed by all six team members.

In the future it is hoped that funding may be approved from the United Nations Multi-donor Trust Fund (UNMDTF). However, for the moment the St Mary’s-Juba Link will have to raise its own money and continues to depend on the generosity of staff at St Mary’s and the general public to achieve it aims.