A little 9-year-old boy sat stoically still while medical missionaries cleaned his wound; a gash on his eyelid that led to infection and fever. It was after the treatment that he finally cried, not because of the pain from his injury, but from his intense hunger.
A Sudanese boy sits on the lap of Grace Deal, Charleston Southern University junior and nursing major, while MUSC medical student Stephen Cross administers an immunization. Deal and her team of medical missionaries administered 8,000 meningitis immunizations and treated many other ailments during their annual trip to Sudan.“I can fix that!” said Grace Deal, her voice ringing with excitement. She ran to get him a bowl of beans and rice. He stayed with the missionaries at the medical clinic for a week. By the time he left to return to his village, he was not only healed, but was laughing and playing Frisbee.
Deal, a junior in the nursing program at Charleston Southern University, spent a bit more than a month in Sudan from May 18 to June 21. Two other Charleston Southern students joined her for two weeks. They traveled to Sudan with one of the many teams that rotated through the area.
During their time in Akot, a village in southern Sudan, Deal and her team established a vaccination camp where they administered 8,000 meningitis immunizations. She also conducted clinic rotations and visited remote villages of 80 to 300 people to treat malaria, urinary tract infections, sexually transmitted diseases, rashes, funguses and the like.
This trip was Deal’s fourth visit to Sudan.
“My parents brought me on my first trip to Africa in the fourth grade. I felt drawn to the people,” said Deal. “The little things can make such a difference there. I can help them and love them in a way that is biblical and that they understand.”
As a result of this trip to Sudan, Deal has a focused interest in pediatrics because it is a health field in which she can help children and, therefore, help the entire family.
She witnessed such healing for both a baby and his mother during the treatment that took place during this trip. The baby was suffering from repeated seizures and not eating well. After being treated by a local witch doctor, his illness worsened. The group of medical missionaries brainstormed and prayed for a solution, and were able to come up with a treatment regimen that transformed the baby to health and gave hope to the mother.
The settlement where the medical clinic is located revolves around an air strip where food and clothing are delivered by organizations such as UNICEF, the United Nations World Food program and U.S. Aid. According to Deal, the local population fluctuates because of tribal wars, but has grown over the past four years that she has been visiting for summer medical mission trips. The landscape is flat and typically sandy, except during the rainy season that produces some greenery. The prominent tribe in the area is the Dinka.
Deal enjoys bestowing her love upon the people of Sudan. During the last weekend of her trip, Deal and her team held a memorial service for a boy who died of meningitis earlier in the year. The Deal family is close to the boy’s mother, but was uncertain how she would respond. The boy’s mother wrote a letter describing the great love they had shared with her.
“She never imagined some Americans would cry over the loss of one black Sudanese child,” said Deal.