Former US President comes to South Sudan to fight the enemy

Jimmy Carter ambled over to the people of Monujura village and placed his hands on the slack rope that held the bull by the horns. The bull was due for slaughter in honour of the arrival a President of the United States of America.  The village, a dusty, flat shrub land where cattle heads hang on poles to demarcate clan boundary lines experienced probably the longest convoy of cars they ever saw in their life times.

President Carter addressing Monjura vilage on Thursday 11th February

But Carter did not come to Monujura just to hold some nameless bull by the horns. Carter came to finish the fight against a worm.

Far away in Nigeria, where President Carter started a Guinea worm campaign, the country had more than 590,000 cases. Last year Nigeria had none.  In 1995 in Southern Sudan there were more than 100,000 cases of guinea worm declared.  Fifteen years later, in 2009, there was about 2,500. 

The Guinea worm is pulled out of the skin in a long painful process that can take many weeks.

“I believe that in the next two or three years we can have zero cases,” Carter said.

History is on his side.  In this village, considered southern Sudan’s worst hit by the worm, the facts speak for themselves.  “Since I was born in my family it was only my father and I who were not affected by guinea worm,” said the State’s Governor Clement Wani Konga. But on this day, finding an infested person is very difficult.

“We want to have the same thing happen in this great country as happened in Nigeria. We will not stop until there are no cases of Guinea worm left in Southern Sudan" Carter admirably declared.