Pray for protection for teachers, children and families who, despite frequent bombardments, continue resisting the destruction of Hirure village and its school by Turkish military operations.
The Kurdish proverb “No friends but mountains” recounts the millennia-long resistance of the Indigenous peoples of the Zagros and Taurus mountains against occupation and imperial ambitions of those who claimed to be “friends.” The teachers of a small village school in Hirure, built on a beautiful mountain slope of South Kurdistan, embody this resistance. After Turkish commandos invaded Hirure’s highlands in April 2021 to build two enormous bases from which they frequently attack the village, seven teachers committed to love and not fear.
Each time the teachers drive to Hirure, they risk getting hit by artillery on the road. Some days shells explode in the schoolyard during classes. Despite all this, they keep on teaching six days a week. Their commitment to life and love for 29 children (aged six to 15) of the 18 resilient families that have stayed in Hirure is greater than the mountains.
