Education is hugely important to Houda–and to many Syrians. As she says in this episode of Mn Huna: Finding Refuge in Friendship, “School is the light of life. Without it is the darkness.”
The violence in Syria has had a devastating impact on the educational system–and on an entire generation of Syrian children.
Syria had been steadily improving its educational system and enrollment levels since the 1990s. But as the violence increased, all of that progress–and more–was abruptly lost and returned to pre-1970 levels.
Schools have been destroyed. Teachers have been killed or fled. Thousands of children are no longer attending school. Education has been shattered.
The escalating violence had a significant impact on Houda’s school experience. After the bombing she describes in episode 6, rumors and fear were constant among her classmates.
Her school was next to the University of Aleppo. Student protests against the government routinely took place in the streets outside her school.
So from the windows of their school, Houda and her classmates had front row seats as the protests took place—and as government forces began to respond.
هدى/Houda: من هنا: نحن نفتقد مقاعد الدراسة والطفولة
Melanie/ميلاني: From here, we miss the school desks of our childhood.
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