25 October 2014 - Sitting on the hard ground and braving bad weather to learn will soon end for pupils at Kapuri Primary School near Juba, thanks to UNMISS Rwandese soldiers.

The idea to build the students a school emerged during a routine patrol when the Rwandese spied young students studying under trees, according to Civil Military Cooperation (CIMIC) Officer and project coordinator Captain Sam Rurangwa.

“Having a mandate of protection of civilians, we really thought … that protection of civilians includes protecting those learning under trees,” the CIMIC Officer said.

Soldiers needed to be equipped with necessary skills if they were to play a critical role in society, he added.

“People shouldn’t perceive the military as only being fighters,” Captain Rurangwa said. “When there is peace … soldiers, being a very big part of the population, will contribute to the development of their own countries.”

The project became an activity today to mark UN Day (celebrated on 24 October), as UNMISS civilians, UN agencies, government representatives, community leaders and Kapuri residents pitched in to build the school.

The activities, which lasted several hours, included fetching and ferrying building materials like gravel, stones, marram (red earth) and sand.

Speaking during the event, Rwandese Contingent Commander Col. Nkangura Mutaara urged local residents to support voluntary work to foster development.

He stressed that community work was tailored towards mutual benefit, and could go far beyond economics, as it would help people own their achievements.

The colonel said volunteering was a vital tool back home in Rwanda, where people joined together to build infrastructure like schools, bridges, land terraces and dwellings for vulnerable people.

“It is … through such forums that unity and reconciliation is promoted in a society that has been devastated by conflict, genocide and poverty,” Col. Mutaara said.

Begun on 15 August, he said the two four-classroom blocks and two-room office should be ready by January next year.

Samuel Martin Lokiko, a 27-year-old Kapuri resident, said completion of the project would mark a new beginning for the area, as his fellow youth would soon happily resume school. He added that others with good academic credentials would hunt for teaching jobs at the facility.

Another resident, Benjamin Beja Wani, said he was excited by the project because he could now afford to send his four children to a nearby school, rather than sending them as far as Juba and Kator.

“I fear not only transport expenses, but also the manner in which some drivers move on the road, given the long distance covered every day,” Mr. Wani said.

“Very often, my children arrived at home wet and their books shocked by rain,” said the 39-year-old father of five. “It is even difficult to read the lessons they have learned on a particular day sometimes.”

Barnaba Yisa, a representative of the UN Population Fund, said the occasion had also allowed UN agencies to use an integrated approach in addressing different health needs of the community.

“Without health, the school cannot function,” Mr. Yisa said. “Without health, the mothers cannot give birth to the children that will attend the school.”

He highlighted activities carried out on the sidelines of the building, which included care for pregnant mothers and children, HIV counseling and testing, distribution of school materials to pupils, and demonstrations of mine detection by dogs.