Iman's Story

“I lost my parents during the war and I miss them very much. Our family used to live in a village, but in 1996 my father disappeared without a trace. So now I have to live with my aunt in Grozny,” Iman explains.

“I usually get up at 7 o’clock. Classes begin in the afternoon, so I help my aunt around the house and prepare my homework before going to school. It’s hard to do my homework in the evenings as the electricity is often turned off so I have to study by candlelight. In the evenings my friend visits me and we sit on the bench and dream of our future together.”

School 37

Iman’s local school is School 37 in Grozny. “Our school was destroyed; there was no glass in the windows. Very often my friends and I were ill. “

“I like the repaired school very much… It has become my second home.”There were also no doors, no gas or electricity and no running water. To most people the school looked derelict but the children continued to attend as they had no alternative. Blankets and pieces of wood were used instead of windows and doors, whilst plastic was used instead of glass. The 563 students had to fill their own water bottles and bring them to school as there was no water supply. Instead of central heating the school used a dangerous old gas stove, and the lack of electricity meant the children had to work by candlelight.

IR at work

Islamic Relief rebuilt School Number 37 with a budget of €88,000, partly financed by a partner organisation, CAFOD. All the doors and windows were replaced. The collapsed roof was restored, new toilets were put in and central heating was installed throughout the school.

At the start of the school year, School Number 37 re-opened and the children were finally able to study in a clean and safe environment. The school now has 48 classrooms, plus a gym and canteen. The number of pupils attending almost doubled to 1,100 and there are now 45 teachers.

Second Home

Iman is pleased with the results. “Now the school is repaired and it is nice and bright. I like the repaired school very much. We go to school every day and it has become my second home. In future I’m going to be a doctor to cure people from different diseases, and there a lot of sick people in our town now.”

In the coming months Islamic Relief Chechnya will provide training for teachers so that they can run evening vocational training classes in English, needlework and carpentry. Learning these practical skills will be useful for the children to learn. But the lessons also serve another purpose - they prevent children from playing on the street of Grozny. Streets which, unfortunately, are still controlled by armed gangs and where landmines continue to pose a major risk.

Dreams Rekindled