…As she pays a visit to Malindza Reception Centre.
BY KWANELE TSABEDZE
MBABANE – “I’m going to keep talking to and discussing with, others with our partners like World Vision, our member states, and the new government on how we are going to help you.”
These were the words of European Union Ambassador to Eswatini Dessislava Choumelova when speaking to refugees at the Malindza Reception Centre yesterday. The Ambassador was speaking during her visit to the refugee centre, where she also donated 100 French books and confirmed that they are happy to support 35 children to go back to school.
The EU Ambassador also pledged to continue to seek sustainable solutions to challenges faced by the refugees. She noted that even the book donation was based on an engagement she had with the refugee centre, where she found out that the French speakers did not have any reading materials.
“You need hope to go on. So while we are talking with partners and governments and others that can help in the medium-to-long-term, what can we do concretely? So, concretely, when my colleague Robert was here, he learned that there was a problem with the school fees and children were not going to school. So we had made this happen, a little, but now 35 children,” revealed the Ambassador.
“I was also told that the French speakers do not have any books, so we have brought some books,” said the Ambassador.
She also went on to thank the French Embassies in Maputo and Eswatini, as well as Alliance Francaise for helping select the books on literature, philosophy, and various different genres.
She was happy to contribute to the children’s lives, citing that “children need to play, but children also need to dream.
The Ambassador gave a very heartwarming speech to the refugees, reassuring them that they were in a relatively good situation in terms of the refugee centre.
“I have been to many refugee camps around the world, and I can tell you that this refugee camp is good,” noted the Ambassador.
The Ambassador also applauded the workers in the camp, noting that they do their best to create good living conditions for the refugees at the Malindza Reception Centre.
The Malindza Reception Centre is currently home to about 500 refugees from different parts of the world.
(Pics: Eswatini Government/Ministry of Home Affairs)
