Bazungua, Yambio County, South Sudan—Sheila Charles Mborikina encountered a predicament common to many women in Bazungua when labor pains started: the closest medical facility was roughly five kilometres distant, but she lacked a dependable means of transportation.
Her husband didn’t own a bicycle or a motorcycle. There was no easy access to an ambulance.
The distance abruptly increased to more than five kilometres for Sheila.
“I might have delivered at home if the Amal Ride was not there,” she says as she recounts the ordeal.
Instead, she was transported to a health facility using the community-based Amal Ride, where she safely delivered her baby.
Today, Sheila holds her child in her arms, grateful that transport was available when she needed it.
“For us in Bazungua, the Amal Ride has become a lifeline,” she says.
In Bazungua Payam, getting to a medical facility can be just as challenging as locating one due to bad roads, lengthy distances, and low household incomes.
When they require urgent treatment, pregnant women, individuals with impairments, the elderly, and critically ill patients may encounter unique challenges.
Bazungua’s youth leader, Victor Zakapu, claims that there were previously fewer ways for the community to transport those who were too ill or physically incapable of riding regular motorcycles or bicycles.
“Before this, we did not have anything like this to help patients who needed transportation to health facilities,” Zakapu says.
The bicycle ambulance, referred to locally as a Dagadaga, is intended to transport patients who are unable to sit up straight. It can be fastened to a motorcycle or bicycle so that patients can lie down while traveling.
Eight people have already been transported using the service, including a guy with a hand and leg sickness, a pregnant lady, and a person with a disability, according to Zakapu.
When Luka Godwill, 32, was unable to stand or walk due to significant swelling in both legs, the service became crucial.
“I could not move on my feet. I had no way of standing up or going to the health facility,” Luka recalls.
For nearly two weeks, he says, he remained seriously ill without a reliable means of accessing medical care. Then members of the Amal Ride service found him.
“I was carried using the Amal Ride to the hospital. When I reached the hospital, I received treatment immediately,” he says.
Luka says the service has changed how people in the community respond to emergencies.
“Whenever there is an emergency, it responds immediately and helps us reach the health facility,” he says.
Even now, the trip itself can be challenging. Bicycle transportation can be slow on uneven roads and hills, and riding a motorcycle can be hard for those who are in excruciating pain.
Luka claims that the Amal Ride gave him a more pleasant mode of transportation.
“With Amal Ride, you feel comfortable. It is almost like lying on your bed at home. You do not feel the same pain while being transported,” he says.
He thinks motorbike support might improve the service’s efficacy, especially in emergency situations and on challenging terrain.
A disconnect between healthcare providers and those in need. In an effort to remove transportation barriers to healthcare in places like Bazungua, Men 4 Women is implementing the Amal Ride with assistance from UNFPA through Amref Health Africa.
Sheila believes that pregnant women are especially in need.
She remembers instances where women’s families were unable to pay for transportation, forcing them to travel great distances, give birth at home, or even give birth on the road.
“Before Amal Ride came to our community, life was very difficult for us,” she says.
Data Gordon of Men 4 Women says the initiative is designed to reduce delays in accessing healthcare, particularly during emergencies.
“For us at Men 4 Women, this initiative is about preventing avoidable delays in accessing healthcare. When a woman is in labour, or someone is facing a medical emergency, every minute matters. Reliable transport can help ensure that distance, poverty, or lack of other means of transport does not prevent people from reaching care in time.”
Community leaders say the need extends beyond the people already reached. Zakapu is calling for continued support from donors and partners, including assistance to provide a motorcycle that could help expand the service.
“We request the donors to continue helping Men 4 Women so that they can help us,” he says.
He also wants similar transportation support extended to other communities and bomas in Yambio County. For families in Bazungua, the challenge is not always whether healthcare exists. It is whether they can get there before it is too late.
For Sheila, the journey ended at a health facility and, ultimately, with the safe arrival of her baby.
For Luka, it meant receiving treatment when his condition had left him unable to walk.
The bicycle ambulance may be a simple piece of equipment. But in Bazungua, its value is measured in the journeys it makes possible and in the patients who can reach care when they need it most.
“The Amal Ride did not simply transport me to a health facility,” Sheila says. “It helped me reach care safely when I needed it most.”