Tiny Joseph, in the arms of his mother, Viola. After fleeing South Sudan, Joseph had chest pain, a fever and was coughing. His mother brought him to a Save the Children Emergency Health Unit where he was treated with lifesaving antibiotics.

Children's Emergency Relief Fund
Nobody knows when the next crisis will strike, but your support helps Save the Children provide assistance in the critical first hours and days of an emergency when children need us most. When generous people like you make your 100% tax-deductible gift, children's lives are saved and their futures are brighter.

A Mobile Clinic Saved Joseph

Emergency Health Units Treat and Vaccinate Children

Viola* reached a breaking point when her brother-in-law was killed in South Sudan. The violence had become endemic and she feared for the safety of her infant son Joseph*. Together they fled, hoping for a better life in Uganda.

After they arrived at a refugee camp in Bidi Bidi, Joseph became incredibly ill. He had chest pain, he was coughing and he had a fever. Alone and afraid, Viola woke her neighbor in the middle of the night for advice. She learned about Save the Children's Emergency Health Unit and quickly sought help for her son.

Anna, the EHU nurse, diagnosed Joseph with pneumonia and treated him with an intravenous injection of antibiotics. The Emergency Health Unit treats children for some of the biggest child killers in the world: malaria, respiratory infections and acute watery diarrhea. The EHU also vaccinates children against diseases like polio and measles. Without this lifesaving medicine, Joseph may not have survived.

Viola thinks that the EHU mobile clinic will make a big difference to the community as people won’t need to travel long distances – by foot, in the baking sun – for basic health care.

There are over 780,000 South Sudanese refugees in Uganda. Nearly 60% of South Sudanese refugees are children.

*Names have been changed to protect identities