RAFIF ASLIM

PALESTIN– Teacher Amani Ammar opened a school to teach children for free in Deir al-Balah city in the central Gaza Strip in Palestine, and named it "Al-Hiba" School after her daughter whom she lost during the first days of the war in an Israeli raid on her home in the northern area, a few days before the ground invasion, drawing on 34 years of experience as a primary school teacher.

When the war began and her journey of displacement from Rafah city in the south to Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip also began, teacher Amani Ammar noticed how children had their right to education taken away, and she wanted to do something that would save them and perhaps save herself with them after the wave of grief she went through following the loss of a large number of her family members, the closest to her heart being her daughter, her children, and her husband.

Amani Ammar recounts that when she first opened the school, only five students came, but she did not lose hope, as that work was the most she could offer to the soul of her late daughter and her children Huda, Kunda, and Jameel, with whom she bid farewell to a number of family members before their departure. She noted that after a month she had 400 male and female students, when everyone urged her to impose fees on each student, but she categorically refused, trying to accommodate the largest possible number of children.

Huge Turnout of Students Amid Weak Funding

She started with a small staff of female teachers who believed in the idea and helped implement it on the ground, but some teachers could not continue due to the difficulties of life and the financial burdens they encountered. However, she is still continuing to search for a supporter to cover only the costs of her staff's salaries, explaining that weak funding and the huge turnout of students are the biggest problems she faces today alone.

Amani Ammar recalls that as soon as she opened the school, she had one blackboard and would move it from one class to another, but today she has been able to provide a board for each class separately. She described: "The school is a group of tents, some of which are dilapidated and will not be suitable for the arrival of winter, and most of them were provided as support from some of my well-off family members. Therefore, I hope to change them before winter comes and the students and teachers drown."

Amani Ammar notes the children's love for her, for the school, and for education, as she does not only teach them, but seeks to give them love and many motivational prizes. Therefore, every time she passes through the classes, students compete to answer her questions. She explained that the school starts from the first grade to the ninth grade with a certificate accredited by the Palestinian Ministry of Education and Education, and has so far graduated 4 educational batches, wishing for the improvement of the reality of education and teachers in the stricken city.