Midwifery student Martha Maluk, 34 from Jonglei State, during a class at the Juba College of Nursing and Midwifery (JCONAM) in Juba, South Sudan. Juba South Sudan

Gabriel Abuol Knai, 22, from Jonglei State, during an anatomy and physiology class, on his first year of midwifery and nursing at the Juba College of Nursing and Midwifery (JCONAM). Juba South Sudan

Wani James 27 years old from Kajo Keji is part of the midwifery students evacuated from Kajo Keji to Juba to continue studying midwifery due to the conflit in his twon. "I want to became a midwife to help to reduce the maternal mortality rate in South Sudan" Juba south Sudan

Kajo Keji midwifery students during practice at the Juba Teaching Hospital Juba south Sudan

CHANGES BEGINS WITH LEARNING

Bruno Feder

Photographer based in Lisbon

The midwifery scholarship is one of the signature drivers for the Strengthening Midwifery Services Project. Before project implementation in 2012, South Sudan had roughly 10 midwives who had skills that could pass international standards, serving the country of approximately 11 million people. Petronella Wawa Habib, Principal of the Juba College of Nursing and Midwifery (JCONAM) says the teaching has been invaluable. “In 2014 when the midwives and nurses at the Juba Teaching Hospital went on strike, the students took over and we didn’t have a single maternal death,” she says.

Wani James 27 years old from Kajo Keji is part of the midwifery students evacuated from Kajo Keji to Juba to continue studying midwifery due to the conflict in his town. "I want to became a midwife to help to reduce the maternal mortality rate in South Sudan".

Gabriel Abuol Knai, 22, from Jonglei State, during an anatomy and physiology class, on his first year of midwifery and nursing at the Juba College of Nursing and Midwifery (JCONAM).

Juba College of Nursing and Midwifery (JCONAM) students during class.

Having been at the school for seven years, Habib says the scholarship program is yielding results. Across the country, interest and enrollment in the program is steadily increasing at the four project-supported Health Sciences Institutes (HSIs). The selection process isn’t easy but applicants are still lining up. To get accepted to the program, they have to complete and pass five core subjects at the secondary school final examinations, including Math, Science and English, scoring at least 65 per cent. The problem is getting people from remote towns and villages to qualify for the scholarship. More than 80 per cent of South Sudan’s population lives in rural areas. Many of these villages don’t have more than a primary school and, even if they do, due to the conflict and famine, many school-age children aren’t attending class.

Kajo Keji midwifery students during practice at the Juba Teaching Hospital Juba south Sudan.

Nevertheless, there has been an uptick in interest across the country. For example, in the small town of Kajo Keji on the border with Uganda, graduating class in December 2016 had 45 students. This year’s class is expected to see 100 graduates. “It sounds like a drop in the bucket,” says Leslie McTyre, programme coordinator for International Medical Corps (IMC), one of UNFPA’s implementing partners for the project. “But you have to think that each midwife can treat 1,000 mothers.” The far-reaching effects of the scholarship program are doing more than just saving lives.They are creating a new generation of knowledgeable, skilled, and empowered men and women.