The session shared the details of a new woman-led Community Health Education Program that fuses scripture, medical best practices,and creative illustrations to inspire villagers of South Sudan to adapt disease prevention behaviors

1. How Women, Art, and Scripture are
Preventing Disease in South Sudan
By
Rev. Darriel Harris

2. South Sudan

3. The Problem
• > 70% of the deaths in South Sudan are from
preventable diseases
• >30% of children die from malaria, diarrhea,
or pneumonia by the age of 5

4. The Goal
• Educate rural communities on behaviors they
can adopt to significantly prevent illnesses and
reduce the disease burden

5. The Dilemma
• NGOs and the government of South Sudan
have already been promoting health best
practices for 5+ years
– Adoption rate of best practices has been negligible

6. Our Strategy
• In conjunction with the Episcopal Church of
Sudan, we created a program that:
– fused medical best practices with Biblical scriptures
– Visually Illustrated negative and positive behaviors
– Utilized trusted persons in the community (women
leaders) to convey the health messages
• We wanted to speak directly to the habits and
mindsets that prevented people from adopting
health best practices, using voices that the
communities already knew and trusted

7. The Work
• HIV/AIDS/STDs- (John 3:16; Eph 5:25; 1 Cor 6:19)
• Malaria – (Luke 2:7)
• Pneumonia - (Gen 15:16)
• Safe Water (Diarrhea) – (Gen 26:18-22; 2 Kings 2:19-
22)
• Maternal and Child Health – (Luke 1:26-35; Mat 1:20)
• Handling Human Waste – (Duet 23:12 – 14)
• Handling General Waste – (Jer 9: 10 – 11; 1 Pet 1:15-
16)
• Epilepsy – (Luke 9:42; Num 20: 8 – 12)
• Nutrition – (1 Cor 6:19)
• Sanitation and Hygiene – (Lev 10:10)

8. Handling Human Waste
Deuteronomy 23:12 – 14
“You shall have a place also outside the
camp, where you shall go forth abroad: and
you shall have a paddle among your weapons;
and it shall be, when you sit down abroad, you
shall dig therewith, and shall turn back and
cover that which comes from you”

9. Handling Human Waste – 1

10. Handling Human Waste – 2

11. Handling Human Waste – 3

12. Handling Human Waste – 4

13. Sanitation and Hygiene
Leviticus 10:10
“and that you are to make a distinction
between the holy and the common, and
between the unclean and the clean”

14. Sanitation and Hygiene – 1

15. Sanitation and Hygiene – 2

16. Sanitation and Hygiene – 3

17. Sanitation and Hygiene – 4

18. Sanitation and Hygiene – 5

19. Sanitation and Hygiene – 6

20. Sanitation and Hygiene – 7

21. Sanitation and Hygiene – 8

22. Sanitation and Hygiene – 9

23. Mothers’ Union of ECS
• Group (lay leaders or ordained clergy) that
addresses women and family issues of the
church
• Active on the Provincial level, Diocesan
level, and Parish levels
• Supported by the Anglican Communion’s Mary
Sumner House through skills/leadership
trainings, financial support, and counseling.

24. Mothers’ Union – Instruction

25. Mothers’ Union - Implementation

26. Results
• 20+ latrines constructed
• Entire villages began to purchase mosquito
nets
• People and villages began planning antenatal
care
• Safe water became a priority across villages

27. Questions
Rev. Darriel Harris, MDiv, MA
darrielharris@gmail.com
www.darrielharris.wordpress.com