A UNICEF goodwill ambassador said on Wednesday that she was happy the Totto Chan Centre named after her changed thousands of children’s lives.
Tetsuko Kuroyangi, known as Totto Chan, said she could not imagine how much impact the centre had until she came and saw it for herself.She said 20 years ago when she visited Sudan, children were asking for peace, education and good teachers, and that now many people she met expressed interest in education.
The goodwill ambassador said she was very happy that the centre she helped with funds from Japanese people fulfilled dreams for some children who went through hardship.
Ms Chan said she met 28 year-old Christopher, a Ugandan national who was the first to seek rescue from the Totto Chan Centre in Juba after being freed from the Lord’s Resistance Army.
She said Christopher was sent back to Ugandan and was reunited with his family and finished education, and he is now working in Juba and visits the centre once a month.
UNICEF said Totto Chan has helped more than 2,500 children affected by armed conflict, abandoned or abducted.
The centre was built in 1996 following the first visit of Totto Chan to Sudan, in 1993.