Masonry, carpentry, welding, electrical issues: whatever you need a hand with, at least one of the forty Malakal youth trained for ten days by Indian peacekeepers serving with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan is likely to be able to assist you.

“What a man can do, a woman can do. Now I know how to open and close generators, and also how to connect all kinds of electrical cables in a correct and safe way,” said Aquel Abraham, a 20-year-old woman. “I’m urging my peers to take advantage of rare opportunities like this one,” she added, while promising to keep practicing her new skills.

Aquel and her fellow graduates all live in either the UN protection of civilians site or in Malakal town, where much reconstruction work remains following years of armed conflict. Yet, involuntary idleness is rife, not least among the youth, as many people lack the know-how needed to get gainfully employed.

“We wanted to support these young men and women by sharing some of our engineering expertise with them, to give them a chance to learn new and useful things, so that they can use their skills to support themselves and their families,” said Captain Karen Kumar, who headed the training team drawn from the Indian engineering troops based in Upper Nile State.

For Gabriel Yai, who attended the masonry course, the workshop has been an eyeopener.

I am very grateful for this wonderful training. I did not know what to expect, but it has been more useful than I could have imagined. I realize that there is a lot I can do with my own house to make it better and more beautiful, and now I will be able to actually do it. That’s great,” he said as the coursework was wrapped up and participants returned home, full of dreams and belief.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).