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The Alaska Health Project South Sudan is a grassroots, Alaskan based organization that provides vital humanitarian aid to a remote, isolated region in South Sudan. With the mission of “saving lives through health, water and agriculture”, AHPSS is addressing urgent basic needs in one of the most impoverished regions of the world.
Our Story
AHPSS began when Alaskan doctor Jack Hickel visited a remote village in South Sudan called Old Fangak at the invitation of Dr. Jill Seaman, another Alaskan doctor who had been working in South Sudan for over 20 years. What Dr. Hickel saw astounded him. Even though he spent 17 years previously working in Africa, Dr. Hickel found a level of poverty and lack of infrastructure that was beyond anything he had ever seen. In just a ten-day period Jack watched several villagers die from preventable diseases and malnutrition. Thirty years of civil war had devastated South Sudan. Children were dying needlessly of malnutrition and disease. Dr. Seaman was single handedly running a clinic that was being overwhelmed by thousands of patients. The people of Old Fangak had been forgotten. Due to a lack of roads and the logistical challenges of reaching the area, few other aid organizations had ever been to Old Fangak. Dr. Hickel returned back to Alaska determined that he was going to help. In 2008 he recruited a group of dedicated local volunteers to start the Alaska Sudan Medical Project. Today in 2024 we continue the same work as the Alaska Health Project South Sudan. We focus our humanitarian work on projects that bring clean water for the people of Fangak and Canal Pigi Counties as well as an agriculture program to help over 950 families grow food to fight food insecurity.
Dr. Jack Hickel & Dr. Jill Seaman
The Village: Life in South Sudan
documentary courtesy of Todd Hardesty
Our strategies
1. Build medical clinics and infrastructure.
2. Develop clean water sources.
3. Support farmers to meet food needs.
4. Provide training to locals for long-term sustainability.
We have had a tremendous impact in the region in the last several years by helping locals meet their most basic needs: health care, clean water, sustainable food. With this small investment in the people of Old Fangak, and their resilience and determination, they have a renewed hope for a future of peace, security and prosperity.
certifications & Awards
AHPSS is registered in the U.S. as the 501(c)3 nonprofit, tax exempt
organization Hope and Health International, DBA Alaska Health Project South Sudan as well as Alaska Sudan Medical Project. In 2010, ASMP received the Alaska Governor’s North Star Award for International Humanitarian Excellence and the Anchorage Bridge Builders Award for Excellence in Community Service. In South Sudan, AHPSS is registered as an international NGO with the South Sudan Ministry of Legal Affairs, the UN Office of Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and the South Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Commission.
