Teachers are role models and partners in volunteer work

Believing that the teacher has another role in addition to education, instilling moral and human values and humility in the hearts of the students and urging them to provide assistance, the teacher Qamar Saad from the Martyr Radwan Tayara School in the Qattina area of Homs governorate launched an initiative immediately after the earthquake that struck Syria last month, entitled (We’re with you) with the participation of 65 male and female students.

Saad, confirmed to a SANA reporter that as soon as she announced the initiative and her quick plan to help the earthquake-affected people in the governorates of Aleppo, Lattakia, and Hama, the students rushed to make material and in-kind donations, including clothes, stationery, and toys. They formed teams to carry out the packing and sorting operations and to deliver them to the cultural center in the region to send them to the affected people.

Saad referred to the role of the teacher in supporting students as the main complement to the family, as the school is not only for receiving cognitive information, but rather it is a place for sound education and an important educational factor in correcting students’ behavior and directing them to good morals and positive behaviors, in addition to urging students to volunteer work that creates them efficient actors in society.

Saad considered this initiative as only a small part that can be presented to those affected by the earthquake. She stressed that any initiative, whether individual or collective, stems from a sense of responsibility towards each other. The teacher must leave an impact on the hearts of his\her students through the values he\she carries and should be  role models for them. She noted that she has many humanitarian and educational initiatives, in addition to establishing a knowledge channel on YouTube and Podcast.

In Abdel-Fattah Al-Nashiwati School, the readiness and civil defense supervisors at the school, Eva Al-Atiri and Hayam Al-Zaouri, were able to implement many targeted activities that contributed to relieving stress and tension of students and teach them guidelines and tips to follow during disasters.

Supervisor Al-Atiri noted that, pursuant to the plan of the readiness department after the earthquake, many activities related to civil defense work began, such as evacuation, ambulance, rescue and firefighting. She referred to the daily tours paid to provide students with psychological support and explain the method of evacuation theoretically, pointing to the positive impact of these supportive activities in the souls of students and parents.

In her turn, the supervisor, Al-Zaouri, underlined the importance of spreading awareness about the procedures to be followed during an earthquake, pointing to the implementation of various psychological support activities, and opening the door to dialogue with students to talk about their experience during the earthquake, reduce their anxiety and fear, and help them overcome the trauma and return to their schools and their normal lives.

Inas Abdulkareem