Schoolgirls (Tal Afar, Iraq 2019)

Currently around 264 million children worldwide don’t have access to education due to poverty, armed conflict, discrimination and other humanitarian crises. Education is always one of the first victims of armed conflict. Schools are bombed, teachers killed and students kidnapped. This was the same in Iraq during the reign of ISIS  between 2014-2017. Often schools were closed or children had to learn ISIS ideology.

With the defeat of ISIS many children want to catch up with those missed years of education. Spending many hours in different schools across the country I was always impressed by the concentration and dedication of the students. I assumed that the presence of a stranger, especially a white man, would cause a lot of giggle and disquietude. The opposite was the case. Student always followed concentrated the words of the teacher, barely recognizing my presence. As the three girls pictured here, in a school in Tel Afar.

This photograph has been made while being on assignment for Terre de Hommes. Terre des hommes (Tdh) is the leading Swiss organisation for children’s aid. In Iraq, Tdh offers non-formal education and supports schools taking in displaced children by providing educational material, repairing damaged schools and training teachers and caregivers on how to manage psychosocial distress in children. If you want to know more about their work: https://www.tdh.ch/en

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