The Past Peaceful Days

Today, when my daughter complained of electricity cut off and of her being compelled to study by candlelight, I wanted to tell her what my father used to tell me when I was a child about his suffering with studying a long time ago. However, I found that by doing this I will tell her lies because when we started studying more than 35 years ago we did not have serious difficulties hindering our study. Schools were available and electricity, though was not so good over the past years, was enough to meet our needs at that time. We lived in an era of great stability, especially after what happened at the end of the eighties.

I compare between the current state of insecurity, instability and the loss of a lot of needs and between what my father was telling me about his childhood and youth during the fifties and sixties in our remote village. He told me about the village’s rainy days, the snow and the long and difficult roads that they were passing through to get to school. At that time candles were a luxury because oil lamps were to be used in villages.

There were no schools in every village as it is the case today.  In each gathering of villages there was one school receiving students only from the nearby villages. Yet a lot of children didn’t join these schools for different reasons.

Faith, at that time, was firm and determination was great. They worked a lot to build a new state.

At the beginning of the seventies, this state was founded and great efforts were exerted to establish a strong and civilized nation. Education and health became top priorities the state provided to all.

Education nowadays is compulsory and available to all. In each village there is a school, the state has also established schools in small gatherings far from urban areas. So wherever you go in Syria you can see schools, different education establishments and cultural centers. 

Our generation did not really feel the trouble, fatigue and the harsh conditions that our fathers suffered. We enjoyed the outcome of their efforts which ensure us stability, prosperity, security and peace.

Nowadays, our children witness how these glories and edifices are being tampered and sabotaged. Many schools were demolished. Dispensary, health centers and houses have been destroyed. Unfortunately, we see those who destroy and kill saying: “we are here to build a new nation”.

I want to tell those people that we are happy with our life. We love it and enjoy the safety and security it offered to us. Stay away from us! We do not want your new ideas, as they are enveloped with the smell of death and destruction.

Amal Farhat