Tribune News Network
Doha
Tears poured down the cheeks of Nagham Aziz al Hamed, a Syrian seventh-grade student at the Second Ihsan School, while speaking about the discontinuation of her studies for more than one year due to the ongoing conflict in her country.
"I used to go through anxiety every morning when I see, from the window of my house, girls of my age boarding school buses, while I was trapped in the house,” Nagham said.
After arriving in Doha, Nagham remained out-of-school for a whole semester. However, the opportunity of being a regular student came to her due to the opening of the second Ihsan School, a non-profit academic institution that provides free-of-cost education to Arab children within Qatar, who have been deprived of education for various reasons.
"It was a wonderful feeling full with joy and delight,” Nagham described the moment when she heard about her enrolment into the school. She said she has devoted herself to her studies and is racing against time to make up for what she missed.
She thanked the State of Qatar and everyone who played a role in establishing the school, which depends on the full support of Qatar Charity (QC) and is run in cooperation with Afif Charity, the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, and the Education Above All Foundation.
She expressed the hope that more students would find an opportunity of education at the school where some 482 students -- boys and girls -- are now studying.
Nagham is not the only student at the school, who went through the deprivation of education. Nearly half of the school’s female students are Syrian nationals, including Salah al-Din Murad, currently a seventh-grader supposed to be a ninth-grader, who said the conflict in her country deprived her of education and she moved to Qatar where she is now a student at the Second Ihsan School.
She expresses her delight at being a student of the school that brought an opportunity to her to realise her dream, as she wants to be a lawyer in the future to fight for children’s rights violated in crises. She also thanked the people of Qatar for establishing the school and providing all school supplies and transportation for students free of charge.
Maryam Saad talked about her suffering, saying, "I remained out-of-school for nearly one year due to the security reasons in my country. When I arrived in Qatar, I began to study at home on my own. However, after joining the Second Ihsan School, I focus more on my studies and do homework regularly. The school provided me with a good environment and friends and brought back a hope to my life, as I want to be a doctor in the future.”