Female troops of the UNMISS Mongolian Battalion today organized a “lunch break” programme, during which they met with more than 200 school girls in Pariang.

Held at a school which was renovated by the Mongolian Battalion last year, the event was organized ahead of International Women’s Day tomorrow.

The female peacekeepers who provided a brief history of Mongolia and its traditions, also showed the girls various cartoons and videos, spoke to them about child rights and trained them in making crafts, games and physical exercise.

According to Major Tsegmid Nergui, company commander of the battalion’s Service Support Company, said the interaction with the students was aimed at encouraging them to be good citizens, as well as to give them hope.

He noted that the female troops had provided the school girls with basic knowledge of mathematics, geography and good hygiene practices like hand washing.

“The peacekeepers also organized a training on how to mitigate household consumption by using recycled materials to make craft products and presented the hand crafted gifts to the participants and students,” he said.

Commending the Mongolian troops for their initiative, the school principal, Simon Mijok, said the one-day visit, as well as the learning and fun activities were vital in shaping the hearts and minds of the students and giving them hope.

“The previous Mongolian battalion renovated the school building (last year) and supported our children to learn in a comfortable environment,” he said. “Today, the female peacekeepers of current (battalion) organized a very effective training programme, which gave us a lot of new information and experience in such a short time.”

The peacekeepers donated a smart table which included mathematics, geography basic, and English language lessons to school.

They also revealed that they are planning to renovate training classrooms at the school in the course of the next month.