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Twins celebrated in South Sudan

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A mother with twins at the Mary Ward Primary Health Care Clinic in Maker Kuei, South Sudan.

In some parts of Africa, the birth of twins is not good news. Perhaps because a marginally nourished mother was unable to produce enough milk to care for two infants, some tribes developed the custom of letting one child die. They wouldn't kill it, per se, just set it in the bush and leave it to its own fate. Among the Dinka in this part of South Sudan, a child set aside in this manner was referred to as "becoming a lion."

To combat the practice, and reverse the stigma that often attached to the mother of twins, the clinic of the Loreto schools outside of Rumbek started a special program for mothers of twins, assuring proper nutrition and health care for the mother and both children. On this day, there were more than a dozen mothers with their twins who came to the clinic, where twins are celebrated as a blessing.

Filename
south-sudan-2021-jeffrey-rumbek-B126.jpg
Copyright
Paul Jeffrey
Image Size
5760x8640 / 12.7MB
Contained in galleries
Rumbek 2021
A mother with twins at the Mary Ward Primary Health Care Clinic in Maker Kuei, South Sudan.<br /> <br /> In some parts of Africa, the birth of twins is not good news. Perhaps because a marginally nourished mother was unable to produce enough milk to care for two infants, some tribes developed the custom of letting one child die. They wouldn't kill it, per se, just set it in the bush and leave it to its own fate. Among the Dinka in this part of South Sudan, a child set aside in this manner was referred to as "becoming a lion." <br /> <br /> To combat the practice, and reverse the stigma that often attached to the mother of twins, the clinic of the Loreto schools outside of Rumbek started a special program for mothers of twins, assuring proper nutrition and health care for the mother and both children. On this day, there were more than a dozen mothers with their twins who came to the clinic, where twins are celebrated as a blessing.