Picture It:

To Treat All the People around Me

“I lost my father at the age of 2 in Juba, and my grandparents took me and my brother to Yei to live with them,” says Patrick Hakim.

But in 1990, war broke out in Yei (now in South Sudan), and they ran to Kaya on the border with Uganda. Then in 1993, amidst a rumor that more fighting would break out, they joined others fleeing into Uganda.

“As a small boy, life was not easy as a refugee,” Patrick says. “I was missing going to school and when one fell sick it would by God’s mercy that you’d make it through.”

Patrick lost many family members due to illnesses like malaria and HIV/AIDS.

“My grandmother would treat us using herbal medicines. It was then that I wished to become a doctor to be able to treat all the sick people around me—because so many were suffering and dying.”

And here, despite all this, Patrick is smiling, because he’s doing just that: treating the people around him. He’s working in Juba  as a clinical officer for USAID’s LINKAGES project and even in times of war and violence, he’s making sure people have access to HIV care and treatment.

Read what it was like for Patrick last July, and how he risked his life to continue delivering HIV services to his clients:

• Through Bullets and Bombs to Reach Health Care
  

Photo by Alex Collins for IntraHealth International (Patrick Hakim, a clinical officer for LINKAGES project in his office)