LAKES - Born and raised in the Gambia as the second of seven children, Adama Njie is now 46 years old and a mother.
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![unmiss south sudan lakes state rumbek unv volunteering international day of un volunteers gender affairs equality voice visibility](https://unmiss.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/styles/380x220/public/field/image/adama_talking.jpg?itok=Ndc7oz5p)
After a life of volunteering back home in the Gambia, Adama Njie took the plunge to become a UNV and Gender Affairs Officer in Rumbek. Photos: Nina Zubovic/Vignjevic
![unmiss south sudan kuajok unv international day of un volunteers serving for peace internally displaced persons quick impact projects](https://unmiss.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/styles/380x220/public/field/image/samuel_raised_hand.jpg?itok=SxCBkRa2)
By being a UN Volunteer in South Sudan, Samuel Emmanuel Osekeny from Uganda is being true to his teenage pledge to serve for peace. Photos: Zejin Yin/UNMISS
![unmiss international day of UN Volunteers 16 days COVID 19 warrap](https://unmiss.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/styles/380x220/public/field/image/diane_2.jpg?itok=h502JJS4)
Diane Umuhoza uses her 12-year experience as a laboratory technician to ensure UNMISS peacekeepers are in peak physical condition to protect civilians and help build a durable peace. Photo by Zejin Yin/UNMISS
![unmiss south sudan lakes state disability inclusion women's rights businesswoman activist](https://unmiss.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/styles/380x220/public/field/image/determined_woman_on_motorbike.jpg?itok=-3_ter4p)
With her customized motorbike, Khana Akur Majak in Rumbek does not allow her disability to define her. Instead, she's a much-admired businesswoman and advocate of the rights of women and the disabled. Photos: Nina Zubovic Vignjevic/UNMISS
![UNMISS disabled disability south sudan eastern equatoria 16 Days women's rights disability advocate](https://unmiss.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/styles/380x220/public/field/image/disabled_1.jpg?itok=ndpXVz1C)
Laduma Patricia Egan from Eastern Equatoria, South Sudan knows how to transform the cards dealt to her into a winning hand. This disability and women's rights advocate has been on crutches ever since she can remember but that hasn't stopped her from being a beacon of hope for her people. Photo by Okello James/UNMISS