I’ll Wake Up Every
Morning for School

When we welcomed the children on the first day, the first thing they told us was: “We’re so excited to start the new year!”

Our teachers greeted them with candy, music, and fun activities. Then we sat down to listen. We asked the question we always ask: How was your break?

Their answers were shocking for children their age. Ahmad went first: “Every morning, I went out looking for the water truck.”

Sila said: “I spent every day inside the tent. I never went out. Living in a tent is really hard, and there’s nowhere to go to have fun.”

The answers kept coming. Every one of them sounded older than the child who said it.

In the classroom across the hall, we asked a different question. We asked about the future. The answers were full of hope. That hope pushes us as teachers to give even more energy and effort, and to help the children make up for the learning they lost over the past two years.

The answer that moved me most came from Yousef, who is 8 years old.

“I’m excited to study,” he said. “I want to be an engineer who can build everything again.”

Then he added:

“

I’ll wake up every morning to go to school. Not to fill water, and not to go to the food kitchen… I’ll wake up every morning for school, so I can be closer to my dream.