On February 12, Ramadan al-Suleiman in northern Syria felt a strange stillness envelope the kindergarten yard as he stepped through the ruined walls, twisted iron fences and a wooden swing. plastic has been damaged.
The small school in the town of Jandaris, regarding 77 km from Aleppo city, was once a familiar destination for hundreds of children.
The children are the owners of the dust-covered paintings, scattered among the rubble caused by the devastating earthquake on February 6.
Mr. Suleiman said some children and unlucky teachers will never be able to return to school.
“We have lost two female teachers among the key staff of the school,” he told Archyde.com. We also lost seven or eight students.”
The victims were among more than 2,600 people reported to have died when the earthquake struck northern Syria. As for neighboring Turkey, the number of victims has exceeded 30,000.
Children’s educational institutions in Syria have been badly affected since the war broke out in the country in 2011. For many years, schools were regularly closed because of fighting.
According to an updated United Nations information released on February 11, the earthquake destroyed more than 115 schools in Syria and damaged hundreds of others.
More than 100 schools are currently being used as temporary shelters for thousands of people, displaced by the earthquake that has caused apartment blocks, even small houses in the countryside, to collapse on people’s heads. people.
Suleiman is trying to find some preschool children he hasn’t heard from regarding their families.
[Câu chuyện đẫm nước mắt của những đứa trẻ mồ côi sau thảm họa động đất]
“I went around the buildings where I knew some of the students at the school lived. But 90% of those buildings were destroyed. I fear that some of the students may not have survived, as we have not been able to contact their families,” he said.
Jandaris is a devastated area, with many concrete buildings collapsed.
Rescuers across Syria have found and pulled many children out of the rubble. Fortunately, some of them miraculously survived, even though it has been a week since the earthquake happened.
However, many children have become orphans, because luck does not happen to other members of their family.
Lefeen sits on his father’s lap at their house destroyed by the earthquake. (Photo: Archyde.com)Mr. Mohammad Hassan said he still does not know what happened to the children in the same class as his 7-year-old daughter Lafeen.
“We went around and found out that one of the teacher of my child was killed. May God bless her soul,” Hassen told Archyde.com, as Lefeen quietly played in his lap.
“My daughter was shocked. She told me to go see if anything happened to the kindergarten. I told him nothing was wrong, and I would drop him off at school as soon as he reopened,” Hassen added.
Trang Linh (Vietnam+)
