“Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages,” is Goal #3 of the 17 United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Global targets have been set to reduce diseases and preventable deaths; improve maternal health; increase access to medicines and vaccines; ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services, including for family planning; and information and education. There are more targets for action that can be found on the sustainable development website.
Throughout Africa ELI’s decade of service to young South Sudanese girls and boys, a wide variety of our programs have addressed good health and well-being. Education and interventions for individual students, as well as for the collective body of learners, have been a part of our holistic programming. For example, in the first two terms of 2018, our Africa ELI girls received vaccinations for Hepatitis B. They were supplied with soaps for laundry and personal hygiene. Kits of reusable sanitary pads were distributed to each girl. Two girls had dental problems and were taken to a local dentist for treatment.
Take a look at some of the other programs initiated by Africa ELI, and supported by generous donors, in our first decade.
In a health lesson at school, girls were invited to make signs promoting good hygiene. Among signs that prompted people to brush their teeth at least twice a day and to wash their hands after each bathroom visit, one of the girls instructed, “Don’t spit in public! It spreads germs!” The students used their signs to teach others about developing healthy habits. (May 2009)
Students from Excel International Academy, including our Africa ELI sponsored students, volunteered in the community to clean up the environment. At the local hospital in Yei, students picked up needles and syringes for proper disposal. (March 2018)
Students also collected rubbish from the grounds and swept away debris in the hospital waiting areas. A member of the press interviewed the students, then broadcast their stories to inform a larger audience about the importance of maintaining a clean environment. (March 2014)
To promote general well-being and foster teamwork, Africa ELI students are encouraged to have fun by participating in sports and physical activities. We think that regular exercise, apart from strenuous chores and duties, contributes toward an overall healthy lifestyle offering opportunities to play, laugh, and feel free of stress. In this picture, our girls have just received swimsuits, which they refer to as swimming costumes, and proudly display them in their laps. (June 2018)
Other ways that Africa ELI has advanced SDG #3 include drilling water wells for access to clean water, digging latrines for proper waste management, offering training on HIV/AIDS prevention, sponsoring “Girl Talk” to allow students their freedom of expression in a safe space, and supplying medical treatment for students who suffer from common sub-Saharan diseases such as malaria, typhoid, and tuberculosis.
With help from friends like you, Africa ELI will press on in helping South Sudanese students live healthy lives and experience well-being in all of their days ahead. Please consider donating today to our dELIvering 3-4-5 anniversary campaign. If medical care and good hygiene tools for our girls are of particular interest to you, check out the “Bare Necessities Box” and the “Wash Box” options for your donation. Monthly or annual contributions are appreciated.
Our Mission
By providing access to education, Africa ELI prepares young women in South Sudan to become leaders in their families and communities, engage in business enterprise, counteract inequalities, improve health practices, and work toward improving society for the benefit of all citizens.
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