World Teachers’ Day - Rehabilitating the Dabeq Kindergarten
On World Teachers’ Day, we celebrate and honor teachers working across Syria and Türkiye. Despite limited resources, crowded classrooms, dilapidated schools, low pay, and students coping with high levels of trauma, they continue to educate their students every day. This year, we wanted to share with you Mohammad’s story. He is a teacher at the Dabeq Kindergarten in northwest Syria, which SARD recently rehabilitated with support from AFNS.
Mohammad teaching at the Dabeq Kindergarten in the newly rehabilitated classroom.
The Dabeq kindergarden was severely damaged and dilapidated. Mohammad explains: “The kindergarten was in poor shape and deteriorated, the humidity was high with a lot of mold, the tiles in the inner courtyard had cracked and there was no paint or drawings, so the situation was dire, and we were attempting to adapt. The impact was negative; most importantly, mold was harmful to health and might lead to chronic disorders such as asthma.”
Besides, the insulation wasn’t sufficient, and couldn’t protect students and teachers from the heat of the summer or the cold in the winter.
“The educational environment greatly improved once the school was rehabilitated and repaired.” Mohammad showcases the following improvements:
“First, we got rid of all the mold,
Second, the damaged and decaying walls were repaired, and the electricity was restored.
Third, a hall was built to the kindergarten, and we now have five classrooms instead of four, as well as a specific way for wheelchairs for children with disabilities (…)
Fourth, an exterior fence for excellent safety, as well as painting and coloring pictures for the children to inspire and motivate them to study even more effectively (…)”.
Mohammad described the impact of the rehabilitation as positive for both him and the children, emphasizing how it has greatly improved their work conditions: “Today, we entered the kindergarten in safety and mental ease, so I closed the door and taught the classes quietly and safely. They cleared away all the mold on the classroom walls. They fixed the courtyard tiles. Certainly a significant mental impact. There is something new, and it is clean.
This motivated me to continue in my job”.
Mohammad’s message for World Teachers Day:
“Syria has gone through a lengthy time of conflict, and this war was brutal and forceful, causing a lot of devastation, killing, and displacement, and education was severely affected. in addition to the war, the earthquake added a new tragedy to the disaster that struck the region, especially in the northern countryside and the northwestern countryside of Syria But still: God is sufficient for us, we all continued to be as teachers, we tried to stand up again, to rise up and not be impacted by the circumstances, even if it was without pay, even if it was voluntary labor. At first, it was unpaid, voluntary work, and many teachers helped to restore certain schools damaged by the war and the earthquake, they continued to teach because knowledge is light and knowledge is life”. ”
"Students now enter the school safely, with psychological comfort, and with energy after the outer fence has become safe and the school is beautiful." - Mohammed.
We would like to sincerely thank our donors AFNS, who helped make this project possible. If you would like to help us have a larger impact on the communities we serve, please consider donating below.