Missing friends, missing school

Thursday, May 14, 2015

"It is played with 5 stones. Four stones are left on the floor, then one stones is thrown in the air with one hand and with the other hand we need to pick up one stone from the floor before the other stone comes down, we have to keep repeating it till you have all the stones in your hand. We play this game in school too during our break time," she says.

For Muskan apart from playing with her friends the best thing about school is that she gets to study.

"I like to read and write. My favourite subject is science. I want to be a doctor. Education is important in my life because I want to be successful and independent when I grow up," she says.

She was excited to get back to school after a short break, when the earthquake struck on 25th April 2015.

"We were about to get back to school from a short break when the earthquake happened. From that time the school has been closed," she says.

Just a day or two ago Muskan mustered her courage to return, along with her friend.

"We saw that the building has cracked and the walls are broken.. The building is not safe for us to come back and study. I too am afraid to study in a cracked building," she says.

Muskan misses school and is eager to get back.

"The things I miss about school is meeting my friends, I miss my teachers who care for me and give me proper guidance," she says.

She hopes that her school can be rebuilt stronger and better.

"If everyone works along with one another, then my school can be rebuilt stronger, where the children can come back to study in a safer environment," she says.

Muskan says, "I wish for my new school is to have a clean environment. And rebuild the school stronger so that another earthquake cannot damage it."

Muskan waits in anticipation for her school to be safe again so that she can get back to her Grade 7 class.

No one understands the value of acquiring an education than her mother Geeta Nepali, who dropped out of school because of her family conditions.

"I had desires of becoming a teacher but due to the death of my mother I dropped out in Grade 12. I don’t want that for my children. I want them to study. We have moved around a lot and that has affected the children’s studies now with school closed due to the earthquake it would doubly affect their education. Education is important as we use it in all aspects of life. I don’t want them to lose out on any more of their studies," says Geeta.