TWO army officers from Jersey are teaching children in Bosnia about the Channel Islands.

Lt-Col Robert Jordan and Capt Dominic Davey are serving with the headquarters of the European Union Force (EUFOR) in Bosnia, and discovered by chance that they both came from Jersey.

Capt Davey said it was during a conversation they had about a visit to a local orphanage that the coincidence came to light.

It led to them to give a joint presentation on the Island to 20 children aged between eight and 12, all orphaned by the war in Bosnia.

‘Lt-Col Jordan mentioned to me that he was going to give a short talk on Jersey to children at the SOS Kinderdorf orphanage in Sarajevo as part of a regular programme of visits by EUFOR members,’ he said.

‘I offered to help out and one evening, just before Christmas, we both spent time with some of the children.

‘They were fascinated by Jersey’s history and by the slide show, especially the Island’s beaches and water sports.

None of them had heard of Jersey and the Channel Islands before and at the end of the evening they and their director expressed the hope that Bosnia would soon become a member of the EU so that they could visit Jersey without needing a visa.’