By Han Jie and Fan Heng
Tonj area of South Sudan has a surface temperature of almost 60°C. The peacekeepers of the 12th Chinese peacekeeping engineering contingent to South Sudan worked hard under the scorching sun to breach the supply route from Tonj to Romic.
The supply route is more than 150 kilometers long, being the only road connecting Tonj to Romic and an important line for the United Nations' force projection and material supply. However, the poor road conditions had led to extremely bad traffic conditions, which seriously affected the work and life of local residents.
With the Chinese peacekeepers being assigned the task, the chief executive of Tonj Region in South Sudan sincerely said at the groundbreaking ceremony, "You have brought hope. Smooth roads will provide a favorable guarantee for our local economic development, and sick people can also be sent to the hospital in time."
The time was tight, and the task was burden, but the most troublesome thing was the local security environment. South Sudan has become one of the poorest and most dangerous countries in the world due to long-term conflicts. Children without clothes, locals with guns on their backs, armored vehicles and sporadic gunfire could be spotted on the street from time to time. Armored escort was required during the construction, with machine gunners always on guard.
During the construction process, the contingent organized the forces to start construction at two points at the same time. The peacekeepers were faced with many difficulties, such as outdated engineering equipment, frequent mechanical failures, and insufficient construction materials, but they still managed to repair two to three kilometers of roads every day, working overtime in the sweltering heat. Sometimes they even had to eat compressed biscuits with water for lunch to catch up with the time.
In the local areas, as a result of the local backward economy and turbulent life, very few local families could afford tuition fees, and school supplies were luxuries for children. Despite a tight construction schedule, the Chinese peacekeepers raised food, school supplies, clothes and other materials in spare time, and donated them to the local primary school.
"Thank you for supporting the children and building the road for us. This will change our lives," said the villagers. In the days being far away from home, the Chinese peacekeepers have gained the deep friendship of the local people.
It is reported that the 12th Chinese peacekeeping engineering contingent to South Sudan arrived in the mission area in December 2021 and was mainly responsible for the construction and maintenance of roads in the mission area, the maintenance of UN camps, and humanitarian relief tasks. Since then, they have successively completed tasks such as the deployment of engineering forces, the road improvement around the UN peacekeeping camp in Wau, South Sudan, and the repair of the barracks of other UN peacekeeping troops.
