Twenty-two of them kick the ball and do all the footballing maneuvers, perhaps aspiring to become professional footballers. But only a few professional footballers have done what they do here in Aweil: they train on a pebble-littered rough pitch, barefoot.

It is imperative for UN peacekeepers to move freely and without any hindrance so they can carry out their mandate, the head of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), David Shearer said on Tuesday in a speech to senior commanders from South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF).

26-year-old Mary Abuk has travelled for three hours, barefoot, to reach a medical camp run by Mongolian peacekeepers serving with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) in the country’s north.

This is her last hope.