Colorful. That is how I would want to describe the joint graduation ceremony of AAH-I supported Maridi Nurse Training School and AMREF’s National Health Training Institute in Maridi, South Sudan that took place at the grounds of the latter and was presided over by H.E. Dr. Michael Milly Hussein, Minister of Health of the Republic of South Sudan. 
On Wednesday 23rd November 2011, all roads led to NHTI where crowds of jubilant relatives and friends came to witness a graduation of one of the most important professions in South Sudan at the moment. I say this because these two schools are among a few training institutions within the new Republic that are working to alleviate the acute shortage of human resources for health facing the country.
It was a sight to behold as the more than 150 grandaunts some dressed in black gowns, others in white starched uniforms and yet others in blue marched to a soulful tune in a ceremonial procession together with their proud tutors to the cheers of the seated guests. Of this, 26 certified community nurses and 25 community midwives were graduating from the Maridi Nurse Training School.
The ceremony began in earnest and was well attended by a senior delegation of officials from the Government of South Sudan who included; the Minister of Health of the Western Equatoria State, H.E. Stephen Komoyangi, the Commissioner of Maridi County as well as the Member of Parliament for Maridi Constituency, Hon. Bashir Mbendi. Others were Dr. Makur M. Kariom, Undersecretary, MOH, Dr. Margaret Itto, the Director General for training and professional development and Ms. Janet Michaels, the Chief Nurse for South Sudan.
In her speech, Dr. Caroline Kisia, the AAH-I Executive Director emphasized AAH-I’s commitment in supporting the Republic of South Sudan government’s efforts to train adequate health care service providers to curb the current shortage and reiterated the importance of the Maridi Nurse Training School in helping meet this target. She emphasized that it was critical for the Government to take up some responsibilities such as supporting development of infrastructure and availing adequate tutors as these are among the challenges facing the training school.
The delegation from AMREF to the graduation ceremony was led by its Director General Dr. Teguest Guerma who was accompanied by other senior officials from the organization that included the Director of Capacity Building, Dr. Peter Ngatia among others. The occasion was also graced by a special guest of AMREF, the Prince of Bavaria from Germany. Dr. Guerma’s address to the occasion described among other issues AMREF’s role in human capacity development in South Sudan.
And when the guest of honor, H.E. Dr. Hussein finally rose to award the Diplomas and Certificates, the ululation from the crowd told it all. As they were called one after the other, the grandaunts walked majestically to the podium to receive the deserved recognition for their hard work. The security team had a hard time restoring order amongst enthused relatives out to fete their sons and daughters with neck garlands made from brightly coloured paper. 
‘The medical profession is not a money making profession’ was the piece of advice he gave the grandaunts during his speech. He implored them to dispel that notion and instead serve the communities selflessly. The Minister urged the newly trained health care service providers to be ethical in their practice and particularly urged the midwives to always refer critical cases to the next level of care to avoid causing unnecessary deaths of mothers while giving birth. He concluded his remarks by praising AAH-I and AMREF for the good work they were doing and pledged government support to the two organizations.
As the day wore on, groups of traditional dances took to the floor to entertain guests. As ceremony came to a resounding end, excited relatives, friends and well wishers could be seen chatting animatedly and taking photographs with the grandaunts who had on this day made them and their country proud.
