The purpose of this study is to describe South Sudanese refugee women's perceptions of access to, use of, and their culture's influence on their access to and use of healthcare after resettling in the United States. Background: The prolonged civil-war and famine in the African nation of Sudan has displaced millions of women and children over the last two decades. Refugee women who are resettled to the United States must make adjustments to learn how to live in American society and culture. There is little known about healthcare access and use by South Sudanese refugee women in the United States. Conceptual Framework: The theory of Cultural Universality and Diversity was the conceptual framework guiding the study. Methods: Qualitative description method was used to describe Sudanese refugee women's perception of their access to, use of, and cultural influences on access and use of healthcare after resettling in the United States. Results: South Sudanese refugee women's perception of accessing healthcare is understood through themes: Women's means of accessing healthcare, types of healthcare institution. Perception of healthcare use is understood through the relationship between these themes: Care of self, concerns of the women, and the experience of using healthcare. Perception of cultural influence on accessing and using of healthcare is understood through these themes: Coping, South Sudanese healthcare culture, and role of family. Implications: The findings of this study may facilitate understanding healthcare access and use by refugee women. The knowledge from this study can lead to the development of culturally congruent interventions for resettled refugee women, in hopes of improving their access to and use of healthcare.

South Sudan currently has the third largest refugee crisis around the globe, with over 3.7 million people being displaced from their homes due to ethnic and political civil war. Over 2 million of these refugees have been displaced from their home country, seeking asylum in refugee settlements that neighbor South Sudan. One of the most important needs within these settlements is adequate housing. Through polling and census data, it has been found that more than half of the refugees are living in dilapidated housing conditions, without any resources to make repairs. The average amount of time spent within these settlements is over a decade and is increasingly getting worse as more refugees enter these settlements. Due to the exponential technological advancements in 3D printing technology, using this form of construction could potentially address a situation within a refugee settlement. 3D printing technology could provide benefits due to its ability to produce housing units at a high rate, its ability to use clay aggregate soil as construction material, mimicking adobe brick housing found in Africa, and the ability to lower the need for labor within these settlements. This thesis will explore the idea of employing this technology within a refugee settlement, to test if it can appropriately balance the implementation of a high tech 21st century technology with the historic and cultural vernacular architecture found regionally throughout Africa. / Master of Architecture / The country of South Sudan currently is experiencing the third largest refugee crisis around the globe. Over 2.5 million refugees have fled their home country of South Sudan and are entering refugee settlements from neighboring countries. Due to the exponential increasing rate of refugees within these settlements, issues such as overcrowding and inadequate housing are afflicting the lives of everyone here. Typical houses in South Sudan consist of mud and adobe brick material known as "tukul huts". While these huts have remained the leading housing type for the past 2,000 years, these houses where not intended for addressing the common refugee crisis we are experience today. These huts require the period of months to construct and extensive physical labor. Given that the refugees are entering these settlements at an exponential rate, it is ineffective to approach housing construction in a traditional manner due to the time and effort it requires to keep up with the high demand. A possible way to address this concern, is by looking at other construction practices that could potentially supplement the traditional forms of erecting houses. Construction technology has advanced to the point where 3D printers can create life size structures that provide housing to individuals. This thesis will explore the idea of employing 3D printers into a South Sudanese refugee settlement, to see if it can adequately produce houses that provide shelter for the incoming refugees.

Cette thèse montre que la violence a suivi une géographie et un calendrier particuliers au cours de la deuxième guerre civile au Sud Soudan. Elle n'a par conséquent pas affecté les Sud Soudanais de manière uniforme, en particulier les femmes. Dans les zones contrôlées par le SPLA (Sudan People 's Liberation Army), la guérilla entretenait une relation essentiellement extractive avec les civils, en particulier avec les femmes. Même si la guérilla essaya de limiter les violations des droits de l'homme, elle instrumentalisa et marchandisa néanmoins les femmes pour soutenir sa lutte. Elle créa aussi, à terme, de nouvelles classes sociales, grâce à l'expansion des liens de parenté. L'inclusion des femmes au sein du SPLM/A confirma la marchandisation des femmes et la formation de nouvelles classes sociales. Le SPLA ne remit pas en cause les structures sociales du Sud Soudan, et les femmes participèrent à la lutte essentiellement dans des rôles de soutien au combat. Néanmoins, la guérilla créa une élite féminine à travers les liens de parenté. Cette nouvelle élite féminine agrandit son statut au milieu des années 1990 grâce à la démocratisation du mouvement, à son accès aux arènes internationales favorables au SPLA, et à l'expansion du rôle des femmes dans les processus de paix. Après la guerre, les différences sociales entre les femmes furent amplifiées par la constitution de l'Etat semi-autonome. Le comportement des troupes du SPLA pendant la guerre influença par la suite les nouvelles structures de pouvoir et, combiné à l'accès nouveau aux ressources de l'Etat, il participa à la consolidation des classes sociales. / This dissertation illustrates that violence followed a particular geography and timeline during the second civil war in Southern Sudan. Therefore it did not affect Southerners, and women in particular, uniformly. In the SPLA-held areas, the guerilla had a mostly extractive relationship with civilians and particularly women. Although it tried to curb human right abuses, the guerilla still instrumentalized and commodified women to support its struggle and to ultimately create new social classes through the expansion of kinship ties. The inclusion of women in the SPLM/A continued to demonstrate women's commodification and the formation of new social classes. Given its superficial and circumstantial Marxism ideology, the SPLA did not question the Southern Sudanese social structures, and women supported the struggle mostly in combat-support roles. Nevertheless, the guerilla created a female elite through kinship ties. This new female elite expanded its status in the mid-1990s, thanks to the movement's democratization and to their access to international arenas that were favorable to the SPLA and to expanding women's roles in peacemaking. After the war, social difference between women were amplified through the formation of the semi-autonomous state. The legacy of the SPLA troops behavior during the war influenced new power structures and, combined with access to new state resources, consolidate social classes.