GREATER PIBOR ADMINISTRATIVE AREA – Health is, indeed, wealth as the adage goes.

Nobody understands this better than Blue Helmets serving with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) who have been protecting civilians and helping build a durable peace in the world’s youngest nation, despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Recently, engineers from the Republic of Korea working with the UN Peacekeeping mission handed over a much-needed ambulance to the Tangajaon Medical Center, located in the south of Pibor.

“Our main aim is to ensure that the South Sudanese people are safe and secure,” said Lieutenant Colonel Choi, a South Korean Blue Helmet, at a heartwarming event organized to mark his country’s generosity.

“Providing a boost to healthcare across Pibor could be seen as us going beyond the mandate but, truthfully, is a gesture of our commitment to this country and its inspiring citizens. We are hopeful this ambulance will help those who need urgent medical care,” added the Lieutenant Colonel.

For Minister of Health, Greater Pibor Administrative Area, Achon John, the ambulance is a boon.

“It’s often difficult for communities to move freely in our country and this ambulance will help us immensely when it comes to referral patients who hail from distant places,” he averred.

The Tangajaon Medical Center was constructed under the mission’s Quick Impact Projects (QIPs) programme which addresses urgent public needs by funding small-scale, construction-based interventions.

“Any investment in healthcare is critical as South Sudan slowly emerges from the devastation of civil war and begins to establish a sustainable peace. Such gestures, like the one by our South Korean peacekeepers, usher in recovery for people who need help the most,” said Gilbert Nantsa, Team Leader of the UNMISS Protection, Transition and Reintegration section, which spearheads the QIPs programme.

In past years, troops from the Republic of Korea have similarly assisted host communities numerous times, building trust and confidence where hope is, often, in short supply.