Displaced woman turns ancient castle into a school in Syria

STORY: This class is being held inside

of an ancient Byzantine castle

at a displacement camp

in the rebel-held city of Idlib

Locator: Idlib, Syria

(Fatima, student)

"I have been here for five years. I am from Hama. I am here studying and I take English, Arabic and mathematics classes."

History graduate Najlaa Mimar

took over the castle two years ago

and transformed it into a makeshift school

She herself was displaced from another city

(Najlaa Mimar, History graduate)

"Because we don't have the means to get an equipped place, we invested in this historical castle and prepared it with the lowest costs and welcomed the students. Children are 4 to 5 years old, and there are also children who dropped out of school. And we are giving them extra classes to prepare them for the classes they have missed."

Mimar runs the school with

the help of other women volunteers

They don't receive financial support and

depend on few resources to teach the students