Kazeem Owoseni
Pope Francis has advised the displaced Sudanese children to put their experiences and history behind them and rewrite the history of the country.
The Pope gave this admonition in a
meeting that was full of emotions as the displaced Children recounted their experiences, living in the camp while the three Christian leaders; Pope Francis, Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby and Church of Scotland Moderator, Lain Greeshields in attendance were in attendance.
According to a fourteen year old Boy, who fled his home and has been at the camp since 2014, because of the war, he said, “life at the camp is not good because, the area is small and crowded.”
He narrated further that, there is no good life at the camp as most of them could not meet their heart desires while staying there.
According to Alex, “there is not enough space to play football. Many children do not go to School because, there are not enough teachers and Schools for all of us.”
Pope, who spoke shortly after the boy, expressed concern for the children. He reassured them that the future looks brighter if they can put behind them, what experience life has brought to them and rewrite the future of Sudan.
According to him, “Although conflict, violence and hatred have replaced good memories on the first pages of the life of this Republic, you must be the ones to rewrite its history as a history of peace.”
The Pope, who lifted their hope for a better future, said, “you bear the burden of a painful past, yet you never stop dreaming of a better future.
“In our meeting today, we would like to give wings to your hope.,”
Republic of South Sudan, the country that broke away from Sudan in 2011 but was plunged into war in 2013, is a country landlocked in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, and Kenya. Its population was estimated at 10,913,164 in 2022. Juba is the capital and largest city in the country.