By Sheila Ponnie

It takes roughly ten minutes to drive from Juba City’s Central Business District (CBD) to Giada Military Hospital. As you approach the imposing security gate, the heat in South Sudan’s capital brushes your face once you roll down the window to answer routine questions from soldiers. At this checkpoint, people from all walks of life—senior military officials, civilians, and families of patients—pass through, each carrying their own burdens. Some wear blank expressions: others look weary, as if weighed down by memories too painful to voice.

Giada Military Hospital, located at a military base established seven years before South Sudan’s independence in 2011, now hosts survivors of violence—many of them wounded by the very forces meant to protect them. The atmosphere is heavy with silence and pain, marked by a lingering tension that hangs in the air like a fog that never lifts.

“We have been treating weapon-wounded patients with life-threatening conditions. Some suffer from severe infections because it took time for them to be evacuated,” said Fredy Aruni, an operating theatre nurse with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), in a statement seen by Amjambo Africa.

Aruni refers to the untold suffering of conflict survivors, many of whom are refugees uprooted from their homes in Sudan and South Sudan. Behind Giada’s barbed fence and under tight security, the wounded battle for survival. Some recover; others sink into depression or face permanent disability, unable to imagine what life beyond the hospital walls might look like.

Bullet-riddled bodies and broken lives

Most patients bear scars inflicted by soldiers meant to protect them. Once smooth skin is now marred by wounds and missing limbs. Bullets fired to defend elites in Sudan and South Sudan have instead shattered innocent lives.

“My nephew was shot four times ; his father was shot dead,” said Hasab Allah Hissen. He sits beside his 14-year-old nephew, also named Hasab Allah Adam Hissen, a Sudanese refugee recovering from surgery at Giada Military Hospital. The boy was caught in crossfire between Sudan’s Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), warring since 2023.

Photo: A medical team treating a war victim at Giada Military Hospital in South Sudan’s capital, Juba. The facility receives war survivors from both Sudan and South Sudan

According to Global Conflict Tracker, nearly 150,000 people have died in the Sudan conflict. Among them are Hasab’s parents and two siblings.

With his uncle’s help—who was also injured—Hasab escaped to South Sudan, nursing four bullet wounds, including two in the buttocks. The attack on April 15, 2024, left five dead and five wounded. His recovery includes both physical healing and emotional trauma.

Shot in bed, house torched

A similar tragedy struck Jenifer Farvy, 25, from Tambura in Western Equatoria State, South Sudan. She was shot while asleep with her two-month-old baby. The baby survived, but Jenifer’s world has never been the same.

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“I don’t know who shot me. They came at night and shot through the window,” she recalls, lying on her hospital bed, one leg amputated and resting on a traction splint. “They shot me and then torched the house.”

She was referred to Giada Military Hospital, where a team from the ICRC performed surgery. The organization has carried out over 1,000 surgeries in Juba and Akobo County hospitals, yet it remains overwhelmed.

“Unfortunately, many lives have been lost because we can’t reach them in time,” said Rose Ochieng, ICRC’s Deputy Health Coordinator in Juba.

South Sudan has a critical shortage of surgeons, and delays in accessing care often result in permanent disability.

Long journeys, limited support

Conflicts often erupt in remote areas. Victims arrive days later, with complications that might have been avoidable. Many travel on foot, carried by family members or transported on rudimentary stretchers, navigating harsh terrain and insecurity to reach help.

ICRC reports that all 1,000 surgeries were for war victims—mainly returnees and refugees from Sudan. Not everyone in need is treated due to high demand and strict admission criteria.

“We get requests from contacts across the country. If the case fits our criteria, we greenlight and help with transportation,” explained Ochieng. 

Geographical challenges further delay evacuations. During the rainy season, even helicopters struggle to land.

Once patients survive surgery, they face long recoveries marked by trauma, poverty, and limited long-term support.

Weak laws, no compensation

Most patients need post-traumatic therapy to reintegrate. Fredy Aruni recalled treating a five-year-old boy with infected bullet wounds: “One of the most heartbreaking cases I’ve seen.”

In 2023, South Sudan passed the Compensation and Reparation Act. But civil society voices like Edmund Yakani of the Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO) say the law is opaque and ineffective.

“The definition of ‘victim’ isn’t clear,” Yakani noted. His organization has documented over 100,000 war victims in South Sudan since 2023.

Yakani, who also sits on the peace agreement implementation committee, says the law mandates compensation at the community—not individual—level. That means victims like Jenifer may never receive personal redress.

A lifetime of struggle

Even for those who receive treatment, life after injury is filled with new challenges. Joblessness, stigma, and poverty often await them. Many can no longer support their families or return to their previous occupations. Some become dependent on aid, which is already stretched thin.

There are calls for South Sudan’s government and international partners to establish long-term rehabilitation centers and trauma-informed care programs.

“With peace processes stalled and no functioning social safety net, these survivors face lifelong struggles,” Yakani emphasized.

In South Sudan, war injuries are often only the beginning. Without sustained support and systemic change, thousands remain trapped in a cycle of suffering—scarred, silenced, and struggling to survive another day.

Call for international solidarity

Amid this grim reality, aid workers and survivors alike continue to hope for more international awareness. “We need the world to see us,” said an ICRC volunteer. “These are not just numbers—they are mothers, sons, fathers, and daughters who deserve a second chance.”

Local initiatives are emerging, but experts say international support is essential for meaningful progress. Humanitarian agencies are calling for more resources, especially in mental health services, physical rehabilitation, and legal advocacy.

“It’s not enough to save lives,” said Rose Ochieng. “We must also restore dignity.”

For the wounded in Giada Military Hospital and beyond, recovery is not just a matter of healing bodies—it’s about rebuilding lives that war tried to destroy.

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Photo: A hospital ward accommodating war victims from Sudan and South Sudan at Giada Military Hospital in the South Sudanese capital, Juba