Bridges to Africa

In early 2009, I traveled to Israel to visit refugees from the Southern Sudan region that have been displaced after years of civil war. What I found was thousands of refugees that are allowed entry into the country, but their status as refugees does not allow them to find work. They are effectively left on their own with no means of earning money and sleep in the park. Walking as non-citizens in a country rich with resources, they progress through life with no official means of finding work. As the situation continues to grow more and more dire in Israel, many of the refugees have expressed interest in returning home. In this light, in early 2009, we partnered with refugee organizations in Israel (of which there are few), and began an education and re-integration project in Israel. In June of 2009, we sent our first pilot group of refugees back to Sudan to re-unite with their families and return home. Although these refugees have returned with basic job skills that they received through our programs, they face a multitude of new challenges in Southern Sudan. With little infrastructure remaining in their home land, refugees have lack of basic services, like health care, education, clean water. To begin addressing these issues and the issues for all returnees, GO is partnering with local NGO's to bring much needed services to the Area. In August of 2009, we begun a partnership with the John Dau Foundation and are implementing community driven health care solutions across the region. To further assess the needs of the community, I plan to travel with 2 volunteers to Southern Sudan in November of 2009. I will meet with our group of returnees, assess major ares of needs, visit the health care clinics, and strengthen relationships with NGO's on the ground in hopes to form a global network of change in the region. The following are some keys goals of GO's education and health care programs: -The removal of 1,000 refugees off the streets of Israel and into educational programs provided through our center - Subsequent re-integration of 1,000 trained and educated refugees to Southern Sudan. A key measure of success for this goal will be the sustained employment upon return to Sudan and increased economic stability in the region -The expansion and increased effectiveness of The Duk Lost Boys Clinic. This community run clinic currently provides basic medical services for 20,000 patients. These services include general practice medicine to diagnose and treat common illnesses such as malaria, HIV/AIDS, and other serious medical disorders. One measure of our success will be providing a trained local clinician who can handle the simpler cases, such as malaria detection and medicine dispensing freeing up the trained medical staff for the more intricate cases, such as reproductive health/miscarriages and AIDS prevention. -Expansion of the health clinic to other areas in Southern Sudan and the increased access to health clinics for the communities the clinics serve (including increased transportation services to and from the clinics, house calls, more trained staff and additional clinics). 100% of funds raised goes straight to our causes and, as such, we have earned no money for the work we have done and fund all of our own trips to visit the areas where we work. As such, $500 can go a long way in making this trip become a reality and ensuring the continued success of these programs.