Ahead of World Hydrocephalus Day, Cross-Border Lifeline Helps South Sudanese Infants Reach Life-Saving Brain Surgery

MAF, CURE Children’s Hospital of Uganda, and Usratuna are helping critically ill babies with hydrocephalus reach neurosurgical care before time runs out

Guelph, Ontario, Sept. 02, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ahead of World Hydrocephalus Day on September 20, a new cross-border pathway is helping South Sudanese babies with hydrocephalus reach life-saving neurosurgical care in Uganda - often when there are no other options.

Through a coordinated effort between Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF), CURE Children’s Hospital of Uganda (CURE Uganda), and Usratuna in South Sudan, infants with hydrocephalus and other serious neurological conditions are identified, prepared for travel, flown by MAF aircraft, and connected with specialized surgery at CURE in Mbale, Uganda. The program is among the first efforts of its kind in the region: a pathway designed to close the dangerous gap between diagnosis and treatment.

When Ayen, a mother from South Sudan, that gap became painfully real when her daughter Achirin was just over one month old. “I remember the exact date Achirin’s head started growing,” Ayen said. “It was the 5th of January (2025), and she was one month old and a few days.” After noticing Achirin’s eyes turning inward and her head swelling rapidly, Ayen sought help and eventually reached Usratuna, which helped arrange the care and transport needed for Achirin to travel to Uganda.

When Ayen arrived at CURE, she found not only specialized medical care, but welcome. “When we reached there [the CURE hospital], they received me with love, and good care at the hospital there,” Ayen said. “They welcome you, and talk to you with a smile.”

Hydrocephalus occurs when excess cerebrospinal fluid builds up in the brain. Without timely treatment, the increasing pressure can damage the brain, cause severe disability, or become fatal. Across Sub-Saharan Africa, access to neurosurgical care remains extremely limited. In South Sudan, there are no permanent neurosurgeons providing the specialized surgeries these children need.

“Many of the children arriving to us are in a life-threatening situation,” said Tim Erickson, Executive Director of CURE Children’s Hospital of Uganda. “Their condition needs urgent intervention. Every day that is missed is worse impact on the brain.”

CURE Children’s Hospital of Uganda conducts more than 2,200 pediatric neurological surgeries each year, more than any other hospital in the world. Yet even a world-class hospital cannot help a child who cannot reach its doors. Dangerous roads, border crossings, impossible costs, and fragile medical conditions can make the journey from South Sudan to Uganda too difficult or too slow for families to manage alone.

That is where MAF’s aircraft become a lifeline: shortening the journey, reducing the strain on fragile children, and helping families reach care before more time is lost.

“These flights are really at the core of what MAF is all about,” said Matthew Marples, an MAF Canada pilot serving in South Sudan. “For many of these families, there is no other option. Their child is looking at an existence of suffering without this treatment. We’re talking about genuine life-saving, life-altering differences that we’re making through these flights.”

Since the program began, more than 300 surgeries have been completed for children from South Sudan. But none of it is simple. Before a child reaches the aircraft, passports, visas, travel permits, border requirements, language barriers, medical needs, and weather all have to be navigated. The result is a complex, innovative partnership built around one urgent goal: helping children reach surgery before time runs out.

The impact reaches beyond the operating room. In South Sudan, Ayen said many people misunderstand hydrocephalus, believing it is untreatable or even caused by evil spirits or a curse. Some told her to leave Achirin at home until she died.

At CURE, mothers hear a different message. They are welcomed, prayed with, and told that their children are loved and made in the image of God.

For Ayen, the partnership is not a program. It is the reason she is able to sit inside CURE Hospital with Achirin in her arms. It is the aircraft that carried them safely across the border, the hospital that welcomed them with love, and Jesus reminding her that her daughter is not forgotten.

“I cannot stay at home when there is CURE, and MAF and Usratuna,” Ayen said. “They are playing their roles. As a mama, I will play mine.”

 

Media Opportunities

Photos, b-roll and interviews with Tim Erickson and Matthew Marples are available. Please contact Matthew Schroeder (mschroeder@maf.ca) for more information.

 

About Tim Erickson

Tim serves as the Executive Director of the CURE Children’s Hospital of Uganda. CURE Uganda is one of the world’s leading hospitals for treating children with hydrocephalus, spina bifida, and other neurosurgical conditions.

Erickson family. Tim joined CURE in 2006 and has served in a variety of roles, including vice president of development and sustainability as well as operations director for CURE Neuro. In 2011, Tim helped launch the CURE Neuro program, which currently includes a network of hydrocephalus treatment locations around the world. Tim became Executive Director of CURE Uganda in 2015. Through these experiences working with vulnerable children battling hydrocephalus, Tim and his family developed a unique burden for these suffering children and their families.

About Matthew Marples

Matt is the son of MAF Canada missionaries Richard and Jennifer Marples. He grew up in Papua New Guinea and gave his life to Christ while living there. He first felt called to missions in the spring of 2014. He attended Prairie College where he received training to be a missionary pilot, and has since worked as a charter pilot, gaining the experience needed to join MAF and serve overseas. Together with his wife, Echo, Matthew moved to South Sudan where he now flies for MAF delivering help, hope, and healing to the world’s most cut-off people.

About Mission Aviation Fellowship Canada

Mission Aviation Fellowship is a Christian ministry that operates over 120 aircraft in 29 countries worldwide. MAF transports Christian workers, patients, relief workers, community supplies, and medical aid to the world’s most remote regions and places of deepest human need. Operating for over 80 years, Mission Aviation Fellowship has developed into a worldwide team of specialists; over 450 missionary staff families, including roughly 50 Canadians and their families, serve in both technical and support roles. Our mission is to serve together to bring help, hope, and healing through aviation; our vision is to see isolated people changed by the love of Christ. To learn more, visit maf.ca.

About CURE Children’s Hospital in Uganda

CURE Uganda is one of Africa’s leading pediatric hospitals for brain surgery and the treatment of neurological conditions. It provides minimally invasive endoscopic neurosurgical procedures and attracts surgeons from around the world for training through its prestigious CURE Neuro Fellowship Program. Hospital staff perform over 2,200 neurosurgical procedures annually for children with conditions including hydrocephalus, spina bifida, brain tumours, and other neural tube defects. In addition to world-class clinical service, CURE Uganda ministers to the emotional and spiritual needs of patients and their communities.

 

Attachments

• Canadian Pilot Matthew Marples
• Hydrocephalus Patient with Mother

Matthew Schroeder
Mission Aviation Fellowship Canada 
647-262-3360
mschroeder@maf.ca