S. and H. are sisters and they fled Afghanistan two years ago with their parents and three newly of-age sisters.
In Afghanistan, they used to live a privileged life, thanks to the position held by their father. The older girls attended university whereas the younger ones attended school. They had a life full of friends, relatives and things to do.
Their father was a role model for the whole family. He raised the girls, making sure they were aware that they would have had the same opportunities as his only son.
When yet another upheaval struck Afghanistan, S. and H’s father left everything he had built over the years without hesitation and evacuated his family by humanitarian flight.
It was a tremendous shock for everyone. The younger ones in particular, felt like they were thrown into another world, where even the children were speaking a language they struggled to understand.
Besides the language barrier and the obvious integration difficulties at school, S. and H. struggled in learning as well, especially in some subjects. Over time S. and H. succeeded in learning Italian and making new friends. However, they could not make up for the deficiencies they had in the sciences. This caused significant distress for both of them.
After several parent-teacher meetings, NOVE proposed to Comunità in Crescita to intervene with a targeted school support. The objective of the intervention was to help the girls to plug the gaps in their education while also supporting them in building back self-confidence.
Comunità in Crescita accepted the proposal, so S. and H. immediately started having lessons with a private teacher, who was also an expert in their culture of origin. As anticipated, their school performance improved, together with their self-confidence. Teachers themselves said they were very happy and optimistic about their improvements.
The road to their complete autonomy is still long as many are the hardships they have to face. Nevertheless, having contributed to a small part of their journey gives NOVE’s work and dedication a meaning. We hope that S. and H. will soon regain the serenity that every child in the world should have.