Vietnam’s blue-beret soldiers host Mid-Autumn Festival in Africa’s Abyei
Tuesday, September 17, 2024, 14:25 GMT+7
A sapper unit under the Vietnamese peacekeeping force at the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) Mission in Africa launched a 'Happy Mid-Autumn Festival’ for children this week, as part of its engagement with local communities.
The festival was conducted at the Abyei church at the UNISFA’s Highway Base and was attended by 200 local children, the unit said on Monday.
The event was held to spread cheers and excitement to the children through the Mid-Autumn Festival celebration.
In Vietnam, the event predominantly focuses on children and is similarly celebrated in China, South Korea, and Japan. Annually the festival takes place on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, which falls on September 17 this year.
The festival was also part of the unit’s activities to promote solidarity and closeness between the Vietnamese peacekeeping force and residents plus authorities in Abyei, a disputed region between Sudan and South Sudan, covering about 10,500 square kilometers.
Participants at the event were treated to art, music, and dance performances by Vietnamese blue-beret soldiers alongside local children.
As part of the festival, the unit distributed gifts to the kids, including lanterns, pinwheels, and bamboo hand fans handcrafted by the Vietnamese sapper division.
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| A dance performance by members of a sapper unit under the Vietnamese peacekeeping force at the UNISFA Mission in Africa and local children at the Happy Mid-Autumn Festival hosted by the unit. Photo: The Vietnamese sapper unit |
In addition, the children received cakes, candy, jelly, and sweet pumpkin soup.
The unit highlighted the origin and significance of the Mid-Autumn Festival in Vietnamese culture through animated cartoons and video clips in English.
"We, the Vietnamese blue-beret soldiers, have long been a part of the Abyei community and always want to help this region with all our might,” said Major Nguyen Mau Vu, political commissar of the unit.
The official expressed hope that the festival would help local children feel the care and support of the surrounding community, including the Vietnamese peacekeeping force.
During the event, a representative of the unit presented gifts to the top ten students who excelled in last year's university entrance exam in Abyei.
The unit donated bookshelves, notebooks, and toys to all five classrooms of a school located in the Abyei church area.
The school serves 250 orphaned students and is staffed by seven volunteer teachers from other regions.
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