Students at St. Comboni’s welcome visit from UN family ahead of United Nations Day

Students at St. Comboni’s welcome visit from UN family ahead of United Nations Day

Students at St. Comboni’s welcome visit from UN family ahead of United Nations Day

18 Oct 2017

Students at St. Comboni’s welcome visit from UN family ahead of United Nations Day

Liatile Putsoa

Walking in single file, over 100 students from St. Comboni’s Secondary School in Juba enter the assembly hall chatting and giggling.

This was an afternoon they had been looking forward to for weeks.

Ahead of United Nations Day, which is celebrated on 24 October to mark the anniversary of the UN Charter entering into force in 1945, the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and other UN agencies visited the school to talk about the work they do in South Sudan.

The pupils said they enjoyed and were inspired by presentations from UNMISS, UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS), UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) under this year’s theme, Building the Future of South Sudan Together.

UNFPA also provided voluntary counselling for HIV/AIDS.

“I am happy they came to my school,” said 17-year-old, Zahra Abdelhamid Salim, who majors in science at the Catholic school. “We have never had such a visit before.”

She particularly enjoyed the presentation from WHO about how to make a homemade Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS) to treat cases of cholera or other diarrheal diseases.

“I already knew about cholera and the importance of washing your hands after going to the toilet, but I did not know how I could help someone in my family if they had cholera,” said Zahra.

Zahra said that she wants to train to be a pilot in Addis Abba, Ethiopia when she finishes high school.

Her first memory of flying was when she went to Khartoum in Sudan with her family when she was six years old. Since then, she has also flown to neighbouring Uganda.

“I do not think there are many female pilots in South Sudan,” said Zahra. “I want to be one of the first female pilots. But first, we need peace in my country.”

Like Zahra, many students said that until the presentations, they did not know what the UN peacekeeping mission was doing to support the peace-building process in South Sudan.

“There are many things I did not know,” said Zahra.  “They are building and supporting the people of South Sudan and all concerned sides of the conflict in the peace process and not just one side.”

“I see UN cars around, they greet; now I know why they are here,” she said. 

The Deputy Headmaster, Joseph Gabriel Odengo, said the visit was a “golden opportunity to enlighten our children about the United Nations in South Sudan”.

He urged the students to be more attentive to what is happening around them.

“Read newspapers, listen to the radio. Do not be removed from current affairs,” said Mr. Odengo.

Founded in 1881, St. Comboni’s Secondary School is a co-educational school with more than 400 students.