Hospital environments are always tough to film in no matter where you are in the world; in a place where so much of the suffering was wholly preventable, it was heartbreaking. Hospitals need constant, reliable power – there is barely a semblance of a town grid in Juba so the hospital relies on old  generators running on expensive diesel that they cannot run all the time. And if the diesel doesn’t turn up, there is no power at all.

 Mbale Hospital in Uganda also faces making difficult decisions every day about patient management because of a lack of reliable power. I filmed on a children’s ward that was valiantly battling a daily influx of very sick children. 

Most of them are on life-saving equipment, like oxygen machines, to keep them alive: no power means death. I met and interviewed so many dedicated hospital staff who are passionate about helping their patients, but are often helpless in the face of  intermittent or failing electricity. We had a fantastic trip deep into the rural areas of Eastern Uganda to film a local women’s community group. They are doing all they can, on meagre resources, to lift themselves and their families out of poverty. We arrived in the village to an incredible reception of the ladies singing welcome in unison together. 

These people have nothing, they are not just on the poverty line, they barely keep themselves from starvation. Despite all that they suffer, they have a remarkable  spirit, positivity and generosity. They are determined to make life better for their community and to do it collectively.