The first shock I had was my encounter with the 'guinea worm'. After someone drinks infested water, the larvae grow in the intestine to become a worm. It lays its eggs in pools of waters, so it tries to break out of its human host to do so. Once it has broken the skin it's extremely painful. I was also stunned by the number of blind people.
River blindness is a slow acting disease, which ends in complete blindness.
Having suffered so much, local people were sceptical of whether we would stay around when we found out how tough it really is. The most serious threat has been the war. Once, Oxfam staff had to flee with bullets whizzing past their heads. We know now that this is the nature of working in southern Sudan. If we're serious about helping we need to ride out these times, return when we can, and continue where we left off.