Sorgul Şêxo

Til Temir – Almost half of the children of Rojava have lost their mothers or fathers in the struggle for freedom, justice, and equality. Their parents made great sacrifices so that their children could study in their own language, with their own identity, and build lives with knowledge in a free future.

When Meysa was only three months old, her father was killed while fighting ISIS gangs in Deir ez-Zor, in the Cizîr Canton. Meysa’s and her father’s story unfolds in a geography liberated from ISIS gangs. On one of those days when women and girls were forced to migrate because they could not live under Turkish state occupation, her journey of displacement began in Serêkaniyê and ended in Til Temir, at Miseb Bin Umeyir Primary School. Yet Meysa’s dreams still live. Since October 2019, Meysa has been continuing school as a refugee together with her mother and sibling.

She walks to school with her mother

Now a third grader, Meysa shoulders her school bag and heads to school, drawing strength from her mother. Sometimes she walks to school together with her. Meysa’s mother, Sena El-Hemûd, is actively involved in the Council of Martyrs’ Families. Sena says: “My daughter lost her father when she was only three months old. Now she is eight years old and in the third grade. She is also successful in her studies.” Sena explains that at first Meysa did not want to go to school because she did not know anyone, and continues: “My daughter is very shy; she does not make friends with people she doesn’t know. Later, when her girlfriends at school encouraged her, she decided to go.”

Their childhood passes in war

Speaking about her husband’s will, Sena says: “He was uneducated, so he wanted his children to study and be informed. He would have very much wanted my daughter to be a knowledgeable, intelligent person.” Sena stresses that she is striving for her children’s education and adds: “With knowledgeable people, both the family and society succeed.” She explains that she wanted to educate her children but was prevented from doing so due to the Turkish occupation: “The children are spending their childhood in war. This deeply impacted their inner world. Meysa was only two and a half years old when the occupation began.”

“We want to live free”

Emphasizing that Turkey’s aim is to break the will of women and children, but that it has not succeeded, Sena underlines that their dreams are still alive, saying:

“Despite being migrants and living under the conditions of war, our dreams are alive. The will of our children is our will. Together we walk the path of science and education.”

She expresses the desire to return to occupied Serêkaniyê, to live freely in their own land without being subjected to anyone’s attacks, and wishes for her children to live a safe life away from war and destruction. Finally, Sena says: “The truest path is the path of knowledge,” expressing her wish for her daughter to have a profession and serve her family and community.