Podcast Summary

Podcast: TED Talks Daily
Episode: "The doctor on a mission to build a healthier South Sudan"
Guest: Dr. Yohanis Riek
Host: TED (with interviewer Lily James Olds)
Date: February 13, 2026

Episode Overview

This episode shares the remarkable journey of Dr. Yohanis Riek, a former child soldier who became the first doctor in his community in South Sudan and the founder of YoCare South Sudan, a nonprofit organization dedicated to primary healthcare in remote and underserved regions. The episode also features an in-depth post-talk conversation with TED Fellows Director Lily James Olds. Together, they explore grassroots healthcare models, the impacts of abrupt funding cuts, and Yohanis’s passionate advocacy for local leadership in fragile, post-conflict environments.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

Yohanis Riek’s Transformation and Motivation

• Early Life and Conflict:
  • Yohanis grew up expecting to become a cattle keeper in a nomadic, war-affected community.
  • Forced conscription as a child soldier around age 14–15 during the prolonged civil war.
  • After the 2005 peace agreement (supported by the US), Yohanis was sponsored to receive an education.
    "[My future] was to be a cattle keeper... At 14 or 15... I was conscripted into the army forcefully. That’s how I became a child soldier." — Yohanis (04:06)
• Personal Loss as Catalyst:
  • Personal family tragedies inspired his pursuit of medicine, having lost family members to treatable diseases.
  • First in his family and community to attend university and qualify as a doctor.
    "My immediate motivation... was seeing my family members die because of diseases that could be treated." — Yohanis (05:31)

The Founding and Philosophy of YoCare South Sudan

• Origins:
  • Founded YoCare in 2009 during his first year of university to tackle infectious diseases and provide primary care.
  • Operates both static health facilities and mobile medical teams to reach remote populations.
• Community Empowerment:
  • Focus on training patients and locals to become health service providers and peer navigators.
  • Example: A patient named Lillian became a peer navigator, helping others access care (07:02).
  • "People must be able to take charge of their own health. Our name, YoCare, means the care we provide is yours." — Yohanis (07:30)
• Sustainability and Local Ownership:
  • Emphasizes local organizing and training for long-term, sustainable health improvements.
  • "Healthcare solution must belong to the people that need them... [not] imposed on them from outside." — Yohanis (16:10)

Impact and Challenges

• Achievements:
  • Over 17 years, YoCare has vaccinated thousands of children, improved educational opportunities, and saved countless lives.
  • Implementation of “Mothers to Mothers” support groups for routine vaccination and health education (18:00).
• Sudden Funding Crisis:
  • In 2025, YoCare suffered a dramatic loss of USAID funding, forcing immediate downsizing:
    • Patient coverage dropped from 60,000 to 32,000 people.
    • Supported health facilities reduced to two; staff cut from 53 to 8 (08:19).
    • "Our manpower reduced from 53 to only 8 essential staff... Patients asked us, where do we go?" — Yohanis (08:19)
  • The abrupt drop did not allow time to prepare or secure alternative funding.

Surviving Crisis & Lessons in Resilience

• Strategic Adaptation:
  • Prioritized essential services, focusing on maternal and child health, especially vaccinations and nutritional support.
  • Relied on community resilience, local networks, and flexible global funding to maintain emergency operations (19:57).
  • "Resilience of our staff, volunteers, and community partners—we became adaptive..." — Yohanis (19:57)
• Role of Local Leadership and Ownership:
  • Success rooted in community-led initiatives, adaptation, and empowerment.
  • "Solution must be locally led and adaptable... Knowledge you give will always remain for generations." — Yohanis (29:19)

Rethinking Foreign Aid and Global Collaboration

• Structural Issues:
  • Critique of traditional external aid as short-term, top-down, and insufficiently inclusive of local voices.
  • "Aid itself, the way it is currently delivered, is not working." — Yohanis (23:04)
• Path Forward:
  • Calls for long-term, flexible, and locally driven partnerships that build capacity, not dependency.
  • Importance of mentorship, listening to local leaders, and alignment with government strategies. "Let us listen to the local gatekeeper of the community... Any support has to be streamlined with what the government is providing." — Yohanis (26:45)
• Examples of Local Leadership:
  • Local chiefs ("Sultan Sheep") are more influential than national leaders for health mobilization.
  • "When you empower these local leaders... any support is more likely to succeed." — Yohanis (25:40)

Sources of Hope and Forward Motion

• Community Resilience:
  • Optimism grounded in the tangible impact on lives and communities, the ability to innovate in the face of challenge, and witnessing new leaders rise.
  • "My hope comes from action... Every challenge is an opportunity for me." — Yohanis (30:58)
• Personal Commitment:
  • Yohanis has chosen to remain and work in South Sudan, investing in building a legacy of health infrastructure and local expertise. "Leaving would mean I’m abandoning my people... I believe even a very small win can save lives." — Yohanis (30:58)

Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• On Ownership and Community Health:
  "People must be able to take charge of their own health. Our name, YoCare, means the care we provide is yours."
  — Yohanis Riek (07:30)

• On Abrupt Funding Cuts:
  "Before this happened, we had more than 60,000 people that were relying on our medical services. As of now, we are supporting 32,000... Where do we go? Patients are also asking us, where do we go?"
  — Yohanis Riek (08:19)

• On the Pillars of Genuine Development:
  "The most important thing to invest in is the people. There is no country without people in the first place."
  — Yohanis Riek (09:17)

• Reflections on Foreign Aid:
  "Aid itself, the way it is currently delivered, is not working... Communities and countries have not been able to be adaptive to time when there is a disruption... Partners need to provide support that builds capacities, not the current dependency we are seeing now."
  — Yohanis Riek (23:04)

• Lessons for Crisis Settings:
  "Solutions must be locally led, adaptable, and resilient... The knowledge you give will always remain for generations to come."
  — Yohanis Riek (29:19)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [04:06] – Yohanis introduces his background and journey from child soldier to doctor.
• [05:31] – Motivation for becoming a doctor: personal losses and education.
• [07:02] – Founding philosophy and community empowerment at YoCare; story of Lillian.
• [08:19] – Impact of USAID funding cuts and immediate organizational effects.
• [09:17] – The importance of investing in people for national development.
• [13:31] – Overview of South Sudan’s healthcare system and YoCare’s community partnership model.
• [16:10] – Emphasis on local ownership: “the care we provide is yours.”
• [18:00] – Mothers to Mothers support group example.
• [19:57] – Adaptation strategies and resilience post-funding crisis.
• [23:04] – Rethinking foreign aid and lessons for the humanitarian sector.
• [26:45] – The need for partnership, systems building, and local leadership.
• [29:19] – Key lessons for crisis and resource-limited settings.
• [30:58] – Sources of hope and Yohanis’s personal commitment to stay.

Takeaways for Listeners

• Locally led, community-empowering healthcare is critical in fragile, post-conflict regions—both for effectiveness and resilience during funding disruptions.
• Lasting improvements in health systems require genuine local ownership, long-term commitment, flexible collaborations, and a focus on building local capacity rather than perpetuating dependency.
• Individual stories of transformation (like Lillian’s) showcase the multiplier effects of grassroots leadership, especially in places where formal infrastructure is lacking.
• Yohanis’s unwavering hope and commitment, fueled by tangible impact and community resilience, serve as a model for principled leadership in global health.