South Sudan Olympian encourages nation to silence the guns

“The needs of the Youths in South Sudan will never be met unless the guns are silenced,” says Athlete and Olympian Kenyi Santino, who spoke at the UN day celebration in Juba South Sudan.

Santino’s message is motivated by his own experience as a national athlete who despite representing the World’s youngest nation at the Olympics in Brazil, failed to win any medal because of the fighting in South Sudan. He noted that the children of this nation will not have the opportunity to become stars in sports, if the fighting goes on.

“If there was no fighting in South Sudan maybe I would have won a medal for the country,” said Santino and noted that “South Sudan is going to be a great country tomorrow,” but cautioned that the potential greatness could be thwarted “if we continue fighting among ourselves.”

He spoke at the UN Day celebrations held at Nyakuroni Cultural center in Juba, South Sudan.