Mawien Ariik’s story

Mawien Ariik (also known as Ariik Mawien) was very young when his father was killed in the Second Sudanese Civil War (1983 to 2005). Millions of Sudanese people also lost their lives.

When Ariik realised that his father had died fighting for the freedom of his people, it made a huge impact on him.
Ariik and his siblings were raised by their widowed single mother. Eventually he was separated from his family and spent many years in refugee camps in Uganda and Kenya before arriving in Australia as a teenager in 2005 via a humanitarian visa.

In 2014 Ariik travelled to South Sudan to see his grandfather who was very ill. South Sudan’s rainy season meant that the village of Lou-Ariik was flooded, and paths and roads were cut off. Ten villagers took turns, over a ten-hour period, to carry Ariik’s sick grandfather through floodwaters to the nearest town with transport to take him to the city for medical attention.

Ariik was so close but had to return to Australia without having seen his family. He saved his money, travelled back to his village in 2016, and was very sad to see that the condition of the villagers remained unchanged. Flood-related isolation makes it extremely difficult for villagers to access even basic medical care for many months of the year.

In 2017 International charities operating in South Sudan declared a measles outbreak in the village of Lou-Ariik. Many people died, including Ariik’s uncle and one of his nieces. Another niece became very sick, but Ariik was able to organise transport for her to receive medical attention. A continuing lack of basic health and sanitation facilities, combined with poor hygiene literacy in the village, mean that many more people will continue to die unless immediate action is taken.

There is currently only one health care clinic in the entire Lou-Ariik village, servicing 360,000 people. Staff have access to only the most basic training, little equipment, and insufficient medical supplies.

In 2018, after noting this obvious and desperate need for a health initiative in the village, Ariik and some of his friends in Australia formed a charity organisation – South Sudanese Health Matters.