Life-changing trip to South Sudan for Ottawa photog

They are photos that, by rights, we were never meant to see.

They are images of a country and a people struggling to find stability and safety.

But more than that, the images taken by former Ottawa Sun photographer Andre Forget on his recent trip to South Sudan show efforts of him and his World Vision colleagues as they try to give villagers and those stuck in camps for displaced people live-saving tools in maternal health care. "A country like South Sudan not only needs immediate care but they need to have long-term care as well," said Forget.

Forget and senior director of World Vision Elly Vandenberg were part of a four-person team and spent nearly two weeks last month in the state of Warrap helping to educate women and children in villages and in camps of displaced people. They have shared photos of their trip with the Sun.

It was a trip that would change them both.

"There's the insecurity of a country that's young and that there's still fighting going on," Vandenberg told the Sun. "Then there's the insecurity of being such a poor country."

South Sudan, a northeastern landlocked country in Africa, became independent from Sudan in 2011. In 2013, the country erupted into conflict between its two native tribes: the Nuer and the Dinka.

Since then, food has been scarce, disease has been rampant and thousands of South Sudanese people have died, as a result of poor health care or the war.

There was very little opportunity for Forget and Vandenberg to educate men during their trip as many were off fighting the war -- or dead.

Documenting their journey would also prove to be challenging. Country regulations prohibited any picture-taking within its borders.

Conditions were so strict that every time Forget would pass a road check point armed with guards, he would risk losing his equipment and run-ins with the local law.

After travelling more than 10,700 km across the world and landing in the capital of Juba, the four teammates made their way to rural Warrap.

Despite the instability, the people were excited about learning and practising their health care, Vandenberg said.

During the hot days, stations were set up underneath trees, each one serving a different purpose: registration, vaccination, a place for women and children under 5 years of age, learning about hand washing, getting their mosquito nets and getting their bars of soap.

"All these different interventions we know work," said Vandenberg. "They're cost effective and simple and we've seen them work in other places and we saw them working there in South Sudan. It's just a bit more difficult circumstance."

"You can tell their optimistic," said Forget. "Right now, they can see it's getting better and they're hopeful that it's going to continue to get better. I didn't see a lot of the images that I would have expected to see. I saw more people lining up to get vaccinated, to get soap and mosquito nets. They realize that they need to progress and be healthier and safer. It was cool to see that rather than them not participating."

And if Forget and Vandenberg could use one word to describe the people, it would be "resilient".

"I have a real sense of admiration for the people there," said Vandenberg. \

"Resilience is the word that comes to mind again and again. People with so little are still able to do so much."

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