Two months after bombs on Christmas morning closed an underground school and orphanage, a Columbia Heights man said his dream may have new life – as Syrian students and teachers returned to a village once threatened by indiscriminate airstrikes.
Washington resident Mouaz Moustafa founded a school for 130 Syrian orphans in 2016, calling it “the Wisdom House.” The school lies within Idlib Province, the area where Syrian President Bashar al-Assad infamously used chemical weapons against at least 200 civilians in April 2017.
The episode caused President Donald J. Trump to launch 59 tomahawk missiles from the Mediterranean Sea, striking a Syrian airbase in response.
Only months later, the Wisdom House and its new women’s center were forced to evacuate, after renewed Syrian airstrikes came within sight of the school building.
But in an email Wednesday sent to American sponsors of the Wisdom House, Moustafa and his team said women, children and teachers were now returning, with the skies over Idlib quiet for a week.
“It only took a week-long lull in bombardment for the brave teachers staff and residents to return to the town determined to rebuild their shattered homes and continue the education for orphans and training for women in a town sustained by the hope and generosity of Americans from DC and across the country,” Moustafa said in an interview Wednesday.
“I am continuously inspired by the amazing spirit of the Syrian people and pray that they remain safe, but it is still scary because Assad Russia and Iran can at any moment target these civilian communities.”
The hope is to open the school as soon as possible, with Wisdom House staff reporting all children and adults are accounted for and unharmed.
"While the schools may initially open at a smaller capacity, we hope the remaining students and families can return safely and resume their studies with us," staff wrote in an email. "Thank God, they are all safe."
