Solomon Atem Akech nearly lost the opportunity to deliver an important item – a neatly folded letter, addressed to the president of South Sudan – because no one had invited him to read it out.

Lance Corporal Mina Thapa not only defied the odds by joining the army – a male-dominated field – but went a notch higher by accepting to be a part of the Nepalese military peacekeeping force, now serving in South Sudan, far away from home.

Juvenile offenders of Torit prison serving long sentences for capital offences like murder, rape, and the like are usually seen as forgotten human beings.