Juba. Ochan Lazarous is an international student enrolled in the first year of the Master of Science in International Horticultural Science at the University of Bologna. Although there are many incoming students from around the world who enrol in this international course of the School of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Ochan’s story is unique. Ochan comes from South Sudan and is the first student of the young African country with the opportunity to study in Italy, thanks to a scholarship from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. “I was in a rural area far away from Juba, the capital and I was working with an NGO on an agricultural development project, when I got the news: my application to go study in Italy had been accepted”. Ochan’s request for a scholarship was sent in few months ago and now the Ministry gave the green light. Thus begins the 31-year-old’s journey from South Sudan would take him to Bologna. (9Colonne)