Dahar, History and Geography Teacher at Al Salam School

“I have been here for two years, but I’ve only been working at Al Salam School for about a year. I used to teach in another school in Reyhanli, but I had submitted my CV to Al Salam School as soon as I had heard about it. Everybody in town kept – and keeps – talking about how great it is, how different from all the other schools it is …

Honestly, for me and many others in Reyhanli, working in Al Salam School is the dream. I taught inside Syria in governmental schools before the uprising and it was all about giving your lesson and going home, for the kids and for the teachers. And compared to the other refugee schools in Reyhanli, Al Salam is the only one that doesn’t just see the kids as students that need to be taught. Of course, education is the priority here but there is also a huge personal, psychological, spiritual support for the kids. Al Salam is conscious it’s dealing with kids that have witnessed horror scenes, bombings, raids, death… And it refuses to ignore it like many other schools do, which is why it organizes so many activities for the kids, workshops, summer classes, games…
So during the eight months I spent working for that first school, my goal and hope was to teach at Al Salam School, and the day Al Salam School contacted me and said they wanted to hire me, I immediately accepted.

Today I have very close and privileged relationships with my students. I’m one of the scouts supervisors so I get to take the kids on summer camps. Last year, I took them camping in the forest, and we also visited Istanbul, it was fantastic. These activities are very helpful and essential for the kids. It gives a chance to the teachers to understand what is in their mind, to go deep in their souls and build a strong trust-relationship with them.”