We still regularly think back to the past year. The diplomas! The job offers! The happy students that finally saw the final reward for their hard work. The successful internships, our new project the Caravane de l’Orientation that reached the staggering number of 2624 high school pupils and helped them prepare to make one of the most important choices in life. All that and more.
At our annual pool day, for example, everyone was simply happy with the summer holidays nearing. And overjoyed at having a butterfly-shaped pool to themselves all day. You just have to look at the pictures above to feel the bliss.
The time before the earthquake is extra precious. It was when everything was still whole. When everything was normal. When the parents and siblings could all still come to Family Day. We cherish memories of their visits to Dar Moustaqbel and the enthusiastic welcome from their proud sisters and daughters. But some of these family members did not survive. No cherished memory can undo the pain of losing them and the suffering that still continues.
The year kicked off with a tragic surprise. After a hot August month our students were happy to start their new academic year. The first students arrived on the 1st of September. We officially started the year on the 4th of September with a lot of familiar and new faces. Only a couple of days later, on 8 September, their lives where about to change forever. For those of you that haven’t read our day-to-day report of the weeks directly after the earthquake, you can still read it here.
