Peacekeepers get a nice taste of home
A group of South African soldiers deployed as part of the United Nations peacekeeping operation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo got a special gift this week.
Father Christmas came in the guise of Lieutenant General Rinus van Rensburg, chief of defence corporate staff, and a host of other high ranking SA National Defence Force (SANDF) officers on a goodwill visit to boost the morale of soldiers deployed outside South Africa’s borders over the festive season.
The first stop of the tour that would include the DRC, Burundi and the Central African Republic was in Kamina in the eastern DRC.
A group of 36 Air Force pilots and crew is stationed there to give tactical air support to an Indian battalion of peacekeepers.
A spread of snacks and food from home was laid out for the soldiers and presents, paid for by private companies, in the form of picnic rucksacks.
“We are grateful for the sacrifice you make being away from your families over the festive season,” Van Rensburg told the troops.
He said a recent flareup of violence in the eastern DRC should not deter the South Africans, who are part of the more than 18 000-strong UN force in the country.
Among the South African troops in Kamina is Lieutenant Phetoga Molawa (21) who recently became the first black South African female helicopter pilot in the SANDF.
For her, spending December in another country was exciting as it was also her first operational foreign deployment.
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10 Décembre 2007 à 09:59 dans
- zsandf (anglais)
