IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation launched a maintenance/repair project for the Asbat School built in the Atma Camp by the efforts of the local people with limited means and that did not even have a roof in the Syrian city of Idlib where the civil war is continuing, and restored the school suitable for education. Initially, after constructing the school’s roof, the classrooms, corridor teacher’s room and yard were also renovated. On completion of the maintenance/repair project, the Asbat School now has the capacity to provide education to 615 students.
Director Tülay Gökçimen, who launched an aid campaign on social media for students to receive an education in a healthier, more suitable environment following her visit to Syrian almost 2 months ago, collected the necessary funds for the maintenance/repair project and donated this to IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation. A majority of the funds from the social media campaign for the repairs of the school was donated by the community of the Swedish Bürglen Mosque.
The Asbat School in the Atma Camp was reopened with a ceremony. In addition to IHH officials, Director Tülay Gökçimen, Islamic Society Representative Emine Ceyhan and Syrian students also attended the opening ceremony.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Tülay Gökçimen said: “I saw the Asbat School on one of my previous visits to Syria. The school didn’t even have a roof. Students were being taught sitting on the concreate ground in the rain. This saddened me deeply. So we launched a campaign on social media to restore the school. In a short time, we collected the necessary funds and donated this to IHH. A majority of the funds collected was donated by the community of the Sweden Bürglen Mosque. Donors from Holland also sent donations. In addition, our younger brothers and sisters shared their pocket money even if it was a few liras. As a result of our efforts, we see today the school has become a suitable education institution. We are so pleased, all praise be to Allah.”
In her speech, Emine Ceyhan said: “There are children in 2018, where technology has reached the highest level, trying to receive an education in schools that have no roofs. We were awakened to this from 3 thousand 500km away and were deeply saddened. We could not simply ignore these scenes. We also provided support for the restoration of this school with donations from the community of the Sweden Bürglen Mosque. We would like to thank both Tülay Gökçimen and IHH that gave us the opportunity to contribute to this beneficial deed.”
After the speeches, the ribbon was cut and the Asbat school was reopened for education.
The Asbat School will be providing education in 8 classrooms with 23 teachers and 615 students. IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation will meet the administration expenses of the school for a year.
