The Yard of Dreams

Every year or so, I visit my old elementary school to reminisce in the small school yard about how I used to let my creative mind run wild. It was during these breaks from class, I would build these wondrous imaginary worlds filled with the most captivating characters, some even mysterious and otherworldly.

A new horizon

Today, I was reminded of these memories while visiting Nour Al Islam Basic School in Kabkabiya locality, North Darfur (ND), where the yard is more spacious. This school is part of the Primary Education Program (PEP) in ND funded by the European Union, supported by UNICEF and implemented by Auttash Organization for Peace & Development; under the supervision of the Ministry of Education North Darfur. The project focused on the improvement of school environments. A unique factor about this school is that it has become a recognized local landmark where people use it to give directions. It is easy to immediately understand why. Following the school rehabilitation efforts, the school is now equipped with new buildings, 16 new classrooms, and 24 newly trained teachers. The school also offers both primary finals and high school diploma exams for the city.

Mr. Ahmed Mohamed Haroon, the principle of the school, greeted us as we arrived and expressed his deepest gratitude to everyone who was involved in the school’s rehabilitation project.

“Before the PEP, the buildings were unfit for use, least to say, and not safe enough to be considered a classroom with children inside. However, after Auttash, UNICEF and other program partners started working in this area, the revolutionary process started” said Mr Haroon. “The classrooms became ideal and more than perfect, minus a few seating problems only. The maintenance operations turned this school around and converted it into a professional educational institute”.

The many changes in Nour Al Islam School, also include better trained and qualified teachers. The school enrollment numbers increased noticeably from 850 in 2017, to 975 in 2018. Also, teaching supplies including pens, exercise books, rulers and hygiene supplies like soap, are provided to students. All these elements helped students become more receptive to education and want to stay in school even beyond school hours. The after school activities including sports, are popular and designed to help students explore their potentials in a fun way. It also gives them a sense of discipline and teamwork.

We have to ask several of them literally to go home multiple times,joked Headmaster Haroon.

Another positive development which occurred as a direct result of the project, was the return of students who live in remote areas, and used to travel to distant and more expensive private schools -back to public schools.

The surrounding neighborhoods are excited about the schools performance and new captivating structure, in addition to the staff’s enhanced teaching methods, and its readiness for welcoming students; all that made parents eager to enroll their children.

The school staff are the first to express how happy they are with this new dawn for the school. They feel like they are working in a comfortable, healthy and professional educational environment. This, they state, inspires them to give 100% to the job and for the children. When looking back, the teachers also remember the sharp contrast of how the school used to be — with its dusty classrooms, broken floor tiles, shortage of teaching tools and no functional blackboards.

For the maintenance staff, cleaning is also much easier now in the well-structured classrooms.

Dreamers of a Better Future

As we continued wondering around the school, admiring its effectiveness, two students caught my attention. The first is fifth grade student Ali Abdullah. I first noticed him sitting alone holding his books and studying, even though the school was closed for summer break. He had a look on his face, of a visionary swimming in a vast ocean of dreams.

I sat next to him cautiously, not wanting to disturb his thoughts. With a sparkle in his eyes, he looked up and gave me a silent welcoming nod. I asked him what he was thinking about as he gazed onto the school yard, but he did not respond right away. Instead, he took his time gathering his wild thoughts and finally said “I want to build a library here. just like that American one I saw in my father’s s newspaper yesterday!” He then told me about his love of reading before burying his head in his books again.

The second child is seventh grade student Ibrahim Mohamed Ibrahim, who I spotted sitting by the classroom wall, watching on as the other kids played volleyball. Lost in deep concentration, I was curious as to what he was thinking about.

I approached respectfully, not wishing to invade his moment of solitude. We talked for a few moments and I was relieved as he began to feel more comfortable enough to share his ambitions.

“ I wish I can grow some grass like the one in my father’s field here, so these guys can do the slides we see on TV and stop losing points. We want to compete in the school regional competition this year. This is a must! “ said Ibrahim, with admirable determination.

It is not a coincidence that the moment the school transformed into a more ideal educational environment, children started to plan how to improve everything else they set their sights to.

What do I know? I am just another kid looking out at this school yard dreaming and reigniting the same spark of imagination from my childhood. This school yard in front of me, is so much more than that. It is a place where dreams are born.

My hope is for every child to have their right to quality education fulfilled, so they can build a better future, and ultimately a better life for themselves and community.

Photo credit: Ahmed Amin

Written by: Ahmed Amin

Communications and Advocacy