The Turkish Red Crescent's support has helped hundreds of thousands of people in South Sudan since the Turkish charity organization began operating in the country in 2017.

Turkish Red Crescent South Sudan Delegation Office, which operates out of the capital Juba, has been assisting people mainly through providing water, sanitation and hygiene services, food distribution, hygienic material distribution and capacity-building activities.

Faruk Aksoy, head of the Turkish Red Crescent Delegation to South Sudan, said they have reached out to 430,000 people in the country with assistance and the programs continue and many people still benefit from them.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA) on the eve of the anniversary of the Turkish Red Crescent Society, which is being marked on Saturday, Mary Akur, one of the group’s beneficiaries, said that it rescued her with food assistance last year when they had nothing to eat. She praised the support from the Turkish government. She said the food she received last year helped her a lot since they were displaced by conflict in the area and getting food was not easy, but with the help of the Turkish Red Crescent, the food held them over until the government was able to provide more. "I'm alive today because of the Turkish Red Crescent," she said. "The time they gave me food, I was almost dying, but thank God they came to rescue me. It's something I'm not going to forget my entire life."

Saralnebi Khamis Mursal lauded the Turkish charity for supporting vulnerable people in South Sudan with food packages. She said the aid provided during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan this year was very important to them and is something they will never forget.

"The Turkish organizations make a great contribution in South Sudan, and they provided us with much assistance, and we know Ramadan is a month of good things and a month of love and generosity," said Khamis.

Gaetano Thomas applauded the charity for its continued support of the people of South Sudan. He also urged the Turkish government to train them to be job creators instead of always waiting for support.

Katmala Ramadan Suleiman appreciated the Turkish government's support to vulnerable people in South Sudan. "Something is better than nothing. Their continued support is very important to us as a vulnerable group since everything has become expensive in the country and some of us were not able to buy food.”

According to a report shared by Aksoy with AA, the charity has carried out a water sanitation project involving the construction of eight water wells, distributed food and nonfood humanitarian aid materials in collaboration with the South Sudan Red Cross and supported a cholera outbreak control project by distributing various types of medical equipment and materials and cash support to the South Sudan Red Cross.

They also constructed a water sanitation project involving a solar water well and two bathrooms at the South Sudan-Uganda border checkpoint./aa