Bangladeshi peacekeepers serving with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan have recently handed over educational material and sports equipment to the Catholic University in Wau.

“We are very grateful for this support. Our Faculty of Agriculture is one of the most important in the country, and without specialist agricultural knowledge we cannot exist,” said Santino Maurino Morocomomo, Vicar General for the Catholic Church in Wau.

The faculty is affiliated with the Catholic University of East Africa and admits students from across South Sudan.

The Bangladeshi peacekeepers’ initiative is part of their civic engagement activities in support of learning institutions in the region.

“I know that there are many gaps to fill here, and that is why we are handing over these items, which we have used our own resources to procure,”  said Colonel Mutahir Hussein, Commander of the Bangladeshi contingent in Wau. “We hope that this initiative will take you forward,” he added, while reiterating that future peacekeepers from his country will continue to assist the people of South Sudan as best they can.

According to Santino Maurino Morocomomo, such support is much needed.

“We depend entirely on school fees to operate, and we have part-time teachers whom we need to pay. We don’t have solar-powered energy here, but it would greatly contribute to our sustainability, the welfare of our students and our entire country,” he said.