'I made it,' says South Sudanese who fled to Uganda

Samuel Dhol Ayeun, a trainee doctor who fled from South Sudan to Uganda, poses for a photo at the Mulago National Specialised Hospital in Kampala, Uganda June 17, 2021. Picture taken June 17, 2021. REUTERS/Abubaker Lubowa

KAMPALA (Reuters) - After civil war forced Samuel Dhol Ayeun to flee South Sudan as a teenager to neighbouring Uganda in 2013, memories of watching friends die of preventable diseases due to inadequate medical care inspired his goal of becoming a doctor.

Now 27, Ayeun has graduated from medical school and is busy attending to COVID-19 and other patients at the prestigious Mulago National Referral Hospital in the Ugandan capital Kampala.