For workers at a relief agency that has supplied aid to the people of South Sudan for 25 years, the pope’s visit was a galvanizing event that shed an international spotlight on a beloved but severely ailing country — the most dangerous country in the world for aid workers, according to the U.N.

Earlier this month, Pope Francis became the first pope — indeed, the first Western leader to visit South Sudan.

Amid an enthusiastic welcome, more than 100,000 people attended his papal Mass Feb. 5 in the capital city of Juba, during which the pope made an impassioned plea for peace in the war-torn nation.

“There are times when you’re working in South Sudan where it just feels like you are living on another planet, or working on another planet; the challenges are just so drastically different than what people in the West conceive of,” said Matt Smith, vice president of strategic partnerships and development at the Washington, D.C.-based Sudan Relief Fund.

“And so having the pope go, and seeing major news publications talking about what’s happening in South Sudan, and the pope bringing attention to the plight of the people was really important and valuable, I think, for our work,” Smith added.

Since Sudan Relief Fund (SRF) began operations in 1998, its goal has been the provision of immediate humanitarian relief — such as food and medicine — while also keeping an eye on the future, Smith said, working to develop institutions of civil society that promote long-term stability, such as medical and vocational training. The nonprofit provided more than $5 million in aid in 2021, according to its most recent annual report.

Among numerous other projects, the organization founded a hospital, “Mother of Mercy,” in the Nuba Mountains. It also built and continues to support the Catholic University of South Sudan, the only university in South Sudan — as of 2021 — still functioning and graduating students.

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