EPISODE 4: Life lessons

“In Syria there were 45 girls in my classroom” says Nisreen. “During the break we would play outside and we often did our homework together. We loved our teachers and they loved us. I don’t know what happened to the other girls in my class, nor with the teachers.”

Back together

“My favourite teacher was my Arabic teacher, her name was Samia. We were like friends and we had a lot of fun during class. She was a good teacher and she made us happy. I have never seen again, and I never heard anything from her. But I did manage to find my best friend here. Sulaf and I have been friends since kindergarten. Her family was forced to flee Syria even before ours was. Luckily, we are together again now.

Busy course schedule

“In the morning, I go to school where I learn math, Arabic and English. Sometimes I find it hard to answer when a teacher asks me something that reminds me of Syria. It makes me think of everything we had to leave behind. After my classes, I go to the vocational training centre, where we follow several practical courses. We are learning about health care, cooking and photography. But my favourite course is journalism.”

“I always wanted to be a journalist. I want to report about the reality. I do not want to make up stories. I would want to be journalist right now, so I could report on what happens in this camp. How people live here. How life used to be and how it has changed.”

Nisreen