Achut Deng Dau’s life was saved due to the heroic acts of her husband’s colleagues.

“I was deeply overjoyed because I wouldn’t have stood losing both a child and wife,” said Majok Mangok, Dau’s husband and Mayardit FM Operations Manager.

“She is alive because of the Mayardit FM team,” He said. “It’s the first time I’ve worked with such a cooperative team. I have no words to thank the team.”

George Abidha is the laboratory technician at Mother Teresa Hospital where he personally facilitated the blood donation.

“It’s the first time I’ve seen a group who’ve come to willingly donate blood, and I’d like to ask the Mayardit FM team to go out and pass the message to the community,” said Abidha. 

“I was really encouraged by what the team did to support their colleague.” Abidha says that the hospital does not have a blood bank so he would really like to see local residents donate.

Following the ordeal, the Mayardit FM team put together a news feature on this personal story about blood donation, which was broadcast on The Radio Community stations across South Sudan to raise awareness of the issue.

Karbino Akok and John Thuc, both journalists, are colleagues at Mayardit FM.

“It was my first time giving blood and I did so to save the life of our colleague’s wife,” said Akok. “I quickly recovered and I hope other community members will help patients when needed.”

Thuc agreed. “I had to offer to help because she would have died otherwise. I am urging the community to do the same in future.”

Emma Gilliam is Lead TRC Trainer for Internews in South Sudan. The Radio Community, or TRC, and Nhomlaau FM are supported by the USAID-funded i-STREAM project and implemented by Internews.