JUBA, South Sudan 

The Turkish Embassy in Juba, in collaboration with the Turkish Red Crescent and Turkish businessmen, donated food, school materials and mattresses on Wednesday to the Divine Mercy Action orphanage here in the capital.

Turkish envoy Erdem Mutaf was happy to be among children and said the main focus is to provide humanitarian support to vulnerable groups like orphans.

“We came with the Turkish Red Crescent to support these children. Investing in children means investing in the future. We are committed to supporting these children and will continue to support the orphanage,” said Mutaf.

He added that the embassy will continue to stand with the children in the orphanage and Turkey will never forget to support the children of South Sudan.

Yasmin Ahmed Khamis, the chair of the Board of Directors of Divine Mercy Action Orphanage Center, said the institution is very grateful for the continuous support given by the Turkish government.

“We are happy that the Turkish Embassy and entire people are aware of the people of South Sudan and support children -- this is not easy. No one can come and support children like this unless he or she has humanity,” said Khamis.

She said most of the children in the center coming from different areas of Juba, and some do not have parents.

Khamis said some of the mothers of the children are serving death row sentences.

“We are doing our part and we leave the other part to people like you [Turkish],” she said. “We have 81 children here. Sixty-seven study in northern Juba and nine sat for the South Sudan primary examination. They are going to secondary school,” said Khamis.

She added that of the 81 children, 13 are girls.

“We are supported by individuals. We don’t have stable donors. We have been supported by the South Sudan Red Cross and also by Comboni fathers missionary,” said Khamis.