Africa – From Africa to Bologna thanks to a grant from the Foreign Ministry

“I first went to Juba and from there to Addis Ababa, to the Italian Embassy in Ethiopia, to apply for the visa. Then I took an airplane to Rome and subsequently a train to Bologna. I must thank all those who helped me: the Ministry, the Embassy and the University. Without them I would never have been able to be here,” stated Ochan Lazarous on the Alma Mater website. He is the 31-year old international student enrolled in the first year of the Master’s Course in Horticultural Science at the University of Bologna. Even if there are many students from all over the world attending the international course of the School of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Ochan’s story is unique up to now. Ochan is from South Sudan and he is the African Country’s first young student to study in Italy thanks to a scholarship issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. After graduating, Ochan will go back to South Sudan, where he will teach Sudanese university students.