News about my country, South Sudan, probably doesn’t make it very often to your social media feed. When it does, it’s for stories about deadly attacks, or refugees fleeing their homes, or the humanitarian emergency that keeps many of my compatriots in its grip.

Seven years ago, South Sudan was born into an atmosphere of optimism. My father’s generation had persevered through decades of war, relishing the promise of a new horizon to build prosperity. Finally, that possibility seemed close to becoming a reality, but the conflict that broke out in 2013 shattered it.