BUKAVU, DR Congo, June 2 -- On May 28, local time, a team of blue helmets from the 25th Chinese peacekeeping medical contingent to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) visited the SOS Children's Village in Bukavu and brought the children there gifts to celebrate the International Children's Day.
Chinese peacekeepers presented schoolbags, stationery, footballs, basketballs and special gifts such as Chinese knots and brocade handicrafts, which they brought all the way from China, to the children in the Children's Village.
Built in 1989, the SOS Children's Village in Bukavu is the earliest orphan adoption charity organization established in the DRC. It is home to more than 200 orphans who lost their parents or were abandoned due to war, disease, and starvation. Since its mission area was switched from Kindu to Bukavu in 2005, the Chinese peacekeeping medical contingent has seen 22 troop rotations in Bukavu, and over the past 17 years, the Chinese peacekeepers have always regarded assisting SOS Children's Village as part of their peacekeeping mission.
"Chinese peacekeepers care a lot about the children in the DRC. The children and working staff sometimes will go to the Chinese Level II Hospital for treatment, and the Chinese peacekeepers will also provide some medicines to our medical center," said Matthew, a staff member of the Children's Village.
In order to help the children develop a good habit of keeping healthy, the Chinese peacekeepers also brought antibacterial hand sanitizer, hand sanitizer gel, surgical masks and other medical protective equipment to the Children's Village.
Ye Lijuan, a member of the Chinese peacekeeping medical contingent, said: "We visit the kids in the Children's Village every year in a bid to bring them love and hope."