| Founder(s) | John Dau |
|---|---|
| Type | International Health Charity |
| Founded | 2005 |
| Location | 97 East Genesee St, Skaneateles, NY, 13152, USA |
| Origins | Lost Boys of Sudan |
| Key people | President John Dau |
| Area served | South Sudan |
| Focus | Health, HIV, Maternal Health |
| Method | Healthcare |
| Employees | 15 |
| Motto | Transforming Healthcare in South Sudan |
| Website | www.johndaufoundation.org |
The John Dau Foundation (JDF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that was established in July 2007 to develop health facilities that currently do not exist for most of the populations of Duk, Twic East and Bor South Counties in the State of Jonglei in South Sudan. Its mission is to "transform healthcare in South Sudan." Currently, the organization’s primary focus is on funding and overseeing the Duk Lost Boys Clinic. The Duk Lost Boys Clinic specializes in the treatment of diseases such as guinea-worm, malaria, chicken pox, diarrhea, malnourishment, bilharzias, h-worm, kalazar; the immunization of other diseases; and the provision of maternity services. The Foundation is headquartered in Syracuse, New York.[1]
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John Dau is the founder and president of the John Dau Foundation. Dau is a survivor of the civil war in South Sudan and part of the exodus of the Lost Boys of Sudan who were forced to flee their families and homeland.[1] Dau was featured in the award-winning documentary God Grew Tired of Us in 2006 which won the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival.[2]
The John Dau Foundation is governed by a ten member Board of Directors that is headed by Bill Coplin, Director of the Public Affairs Department at Syracuse University. The organization’s Board of Advisors is made up of 15 members and includes Lopez Lomong, the Sudanese-born track and field athlete who carried the U.S. flag in the Opening Ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He announced his support for JDF in September 2008 and shortly thereafter became a member of the organization’s Board of Advisors. [1]
John Dau has strong ties to local governmental officials in South Sudan. His uncle, Philip Thon Leek, who was a governor of the State of Jongeli and is now a Minister of Transport in the Government of National Unity, has been instrumental in providing contacts and support from the natives, Tribal Chiefs and the Sudanese Peoples Liberation Movements and its Health Ministry. The Foundation has received a commitment from the local government to provide support by the end of 2009 for the existing clinic. Although there is no guarantee that this will happen due to the government of South Sudan's financial constraint, it represents a viable strategy that will require less outside support to sustain what has been developed. [1]
In June 2008, the American Care for Sudan Foundation (ACSF) announced that it would merge with JDF as its operational wing. ACSF was formed initially under the leadership of John Dau and the dedication and hard work of a group of members of the First Presbyterian Church of Skaneateles to build the Duk Lost Boys Clinic in Duk Payuel, South Sudan in early 2007. [3]
Notable contributions to the Duk Lost Boys Clinic and John Dau Foundation include $100,000 donated by Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie (the Jolie-Pitt Foundation) in 2006; [4] $50,000 by the Allyn Family of Welch Allyn in 2006; $25,000 by Volvo in 2008; and $100,000 by United Technologies Corporation in 2008. [5]