The harsh scorching rays of the sun heated up the Richard Fodumula’s face as he traversed the remote communities of Mayong Boma, Nyori Payam, Terekeka County in South Sudan. Travelling on foot, Richard is reaching children in the most remote areas with a single motivation propelling his drive – vaccinating all children in his home county against Polio!

Through the shrubs and across the mud with hardly any shelter available on the way and the rising temperatures to 40 degrees, his duty station in Nyori Payam as a vaccinator is nothing less than that of a hero. The area of Nyori is so vast that Richard has to travel for days between settlements to meet his targeted children of below five years for the vaccination. Thorny routes cover the way toward scattered settlements, most of which are along the river Nile. These are communities which cannot be reached with any vehicle or motorcycle but that has never been a hindrance for the veteran vaccinator, Richard, even in tough weather conditions. He loads his equipment on his bicycle and with the help of a community volunteer, he takes the lead through the long dusty paths to vaccinate children in the remotest areas.

An outbreak of this deadly disease, which mainly affects young children under five, was declared last year spreading across the country. Our health workers, like Richard, have been travelling door-to-door across often dangerous and volatile settings to vaccinate children with the oral polio vaccine, and prevent the spread of the disease.