A good laugh is said to prolong life, so can bringing people together to laugh also bolster dialogue, friendship and peace? That was the question at the core of Saturday’s “Let us laugh” festival at Home and Away in Juba. Judging by the great atmosphere at the UNMISS-led event, the answer is a resounding yes.

“This is good for South Sudan. It’s the way to go for peace. Laughing together is good, because if we can all laugh together at the same things it will be harder to see each other as enemies. We can be friends instead of fighting each other”, said Tong Tong, a 20-year-old native of Aweil and currently studying at Juba Day Secondary School.

Laugh together, like each other. That was a sentiment echoed by many as some 700 people, young and old, braved the scorching sun for an afternoon of free entertainment and information about the UNMISS mandate. The idea of the event was to bring together people from all walks of life under the theme “Let us laugh”, and plenty of laughter there was. Among those laughing was the Special Advisor to the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, Nadia Arop Dudi.

The Chinese military contingent of UNMISS, Comedians, entertainers, musicians and cultural groups from around the country, including a group of students from a Juba Primary School, had the crowd in stitches for good parts of the afternoon. A common thread throughout the numerous musical, theatrical and comic performances was the social messaging on the importance of peace, dialogue and togetherness.

The resulting mix of the lighthearted and the serious went down well with the audience.

“As soon as I heard about this event I knew I wanted to come. It happens very rarely that we, people with very different social and cultural backgrounds, get together like this. Have a look around, it’s a great mix of people, and we can see for ourselves that we CAN have fun being together”, said Varna Joseph Zaki, a 28-year-old Administrative Assistant at a private company.

Asked about what it will take to bring peace and unity to South Sudan, Varna added: “We need to love each other, or at least accept each other, just as we are. At the moment we don’t. How? Just like this! By getting together, having a good time together and getting to know one another. We can’t get to know each other if we don’t get together, can we?”

Barjok Garang, another pleased spectator, identified another benefit of the event: giving the many unemployed people something worthwhile to do.

“Idleness is no good, it causes trouble and makes people do stupid things. Now people are here, they are entertained for free, they are happy. Otherwise, they would be sitting under a tree somewhere, doing nothing or drinking. We need more of this, much more”, Barjok said.