fbpx

We built a school in Iraq

17 November 2023 | Uncategorized

After months of preparations, construction, and efforts, the school in Zomani in Iraq is up and running!

The road to build it was very bumpy. Throughout the process, we faced a multitude of obstacles. Inflation, which also affected Iraq, significantly increased our operational and material costs. Prices of materials skyrocketed. The final cost of individual components such as windows and doors, without which the building couldn’t have been constructed, cost almost twice our initial estimates. Not to mention that at one point the entire project was completely halted due to security issues.

Ultimately the long-awaited ‘first bell’ rang in the new school in Zomani. The school year began unusually in November, a departure from the typical mid-October start in Iraq. On this opening day, 84 students from neighboring areas arrived, with an expected total enrollment projected to exceed 120. Children of various ages, ranging from toddlers to teenagers, finally have their long-awaited school.

Zniszczona szkoła w Sindżarze

I will add as a reminder that the previous school, which was built by the parents of these children some years ago, fell into complete ruin. Like many buildings in this region, it was made from clay. This traditional construction method had one significant advantage: it was cheap. However, it was also not very durable. Over the years, when all the residents of Sinjar had to flee the ISIS insurgency, the school’s building collapsed, with several benches left protruding from the rubble.

In late 2021, the residents of Zomani approached us with a request to build a new school. The villages in the mountainous region of Sinjar on the Iraqi-Syrian border are often located several kilometers apart. The nearest school is almost 15 kilometers away from Zomani. It’s too far for children to commute there daily, given the lack of public transportation and the poor condition of the roads. So we took on what turned out to be a very challenging and time-consuming task.

Otworzyliśmy szkołę w Iraku

Thanks to your support and the help we received from Rafał Otoka-Frąckiewicz, who used his social media platform to attract a considerable attention to the issue, we managed to raise the necessary funds – almost 100,000 Polish zlotys in total. We started the construction right away. As I mentioned at the beginning, we had to overcome many obstacles along the way, but at the end everything turned out well. Now, all that is left is to keep our fingers crossed that nothing will hinder the education of the children from Zomani.

Author: Dawid Czyż

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This

Share This

Share this post with your friends!