{"id":12319,"date":"2023-03-10T04:50:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-10T04:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/onecitizendaily.com\/?p=12319"},"modified":"2023-03-09T19:12:54","modified_gmt":"2023-03-09T19:12:54","slug":"meet-mary-maker-unhcr-newest-global-goodwill-ambassador","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/10\/meet-mary-maker-unhcr-newest-global-goodwill-ambassador\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet Mary Maker: UNHCR newest global goodwill ambassador<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By William Madouk<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meet Mary Maker, a South Sudanese refugee who fled conflict in South Sudan and found safety in Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After overcoming obstacles to complete her high school studies in the country, Ms. Maker became a teacher to young refugees in Kakuma refugee camp and a passionate advocate for their right to education, especially for girls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy memories of South Sudan as a child \u2013 they are beautiful, sweet memories of family, of love. When our village was attacked, we lost family members and friends that we used to live together and we have to leave,\u201d Ms. Maker said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was when my family crossed into Kenya that I first saw UNHCR\u2019s logo on big white trucks. I was so full of fear that initially I was unsure of whether that was a good or bad sign, but my mother said to us \u2018I think help has come,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Presently, Mary is studying Theatre and Literature as part of a scholarship program at a university in the United States as life started to smiles on her again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor me to come to college it took me years trying to apply for scholarship and I give it my all. There was a program in Rwanda that would prepare me for college and I said, yes! I had to study day and nights\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was afraid of failing and was afraid of going back to camp at the same time and I finally got admitted to St Olf college (US),\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) just appointed Mary Maker as UNHCR\u2019s newest Goodwill Ambassador in March 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In conversation with UNHCR to mark her appointment, Mary Maker revealed what being a Goodwill Ambassador means to her and what she hopes to achieve in the years to come. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been supporting UNHCR since 2018 and, as a refugee myself, have valued the opportunity to represent and speak up for other displaced people around the world,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNow, as a Goodwill Ambassador, I can continue to use my voice and my personal experience to help raise awareness about the increasing needs of those displaced,\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mary said as an actor, writer and director \u2013 a storyteller \u2013 and as an education advocate, she is both excited and honored to be part of UNCHR\u2019s Goodwill Ambassador family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo me, becoming a Goodwill Ambassador means ensuring that every refugee is seen, and we invest in their potential. I want displaced people to have a voice,\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI see myself as a storyteller and in my role as a Goodwill Ambassador, I aim to lift up those voices and help tell the stories of those who are unheard. I am passionate about education so I also want to support UNHCR in its efforts to ensure all displaced people can access a quality education,\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mary said \u201cOnce I better understood UNHCR\u2019s role and their purpose, I knew that I wanted to support their work. I knew that I could help them \u2013 to help the millions of other refugees around the world who are in desperate need of support.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After fleeing conflict and finding hope through education \u2013 first as a student then a teacher \u2013 she is now a passionate advocate and storyteller who aims to amplify the voices of other refugees.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By William Madouk Meet Mary Maker, a South Sudanese refugee who fled conflict in South Sudan and found safety in Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya. After overcoming obstacles to complete her high school studies in the country, Ms. Maker became a teacher to young refugees in Kakuma refugee camp and[Read More…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12320,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[79],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Newly-appointed-UNHCR-Goodwill-Ambassador-Mary-Maker-pictured-in-October-2022-in-Minnesota-USA-where-she-is-pursuing-a-degree-in-Theatre-and-Literature.-\u00a9-UNHCR-Ashu-Rai.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12319"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12319\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12321,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12319\/revisions\/12321"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}