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I would like to tell you: (By Habibeh)
“Hello - my name is Habibeh, I am 10 years old. I am in second grade and I am the oldest student in my class because I started school late. Last year was very hard for me because all my classmates were much younger than me. They were all only six years old, so I felt very embarrassed to be so much older. But it is much better now because I already know how to read and write, I can even read big storybooks.
Sometimes I help my teacher to teach the students in my class who are not so good at their studies. So it is not so bad for me any more.
I want to go to university so I must study very hard.
Sometimes I want to be a doctor when I am older, sometimes I want to be a teacher and sometimes I want
to be an actress. I have not decided yet.
I love my new family and home. My mum’s name is Maman Roya and my dad’s name is Baba Ali. I really love them and they are very nice to me.
I have nine sisters and most of them are younger than me. My eldest sister is called Parisa and she bosses me around all the time, but she is nice too. My youngest sister is called Zahra. She is my favourite and she is really tiny and very pretty. She is like a little doll.
I have a sponsor in England and her name is Lisa. Sometimes she sends me letters, she writes so many kind things. She also sent me some photographs of herself and her house and her cat and her husband. They are very beautiful. I also write to her. I like Lisa, I think she is very kind and likes me too and maybe she will visit me someday.
My first ever holiday! ( By Rahman)
In summer 2005 the children enjoyed a 10-day break in the historic city of Esfahan, where they were the special guests of the city’s Mayor.
For most of the children, this was their first ever proper holiday and so we asked the older children to write an account of how they got on.
Here is an extract from the essay of 10-year-old Rahman, who lost most of his family in the Bam earthquake:
“When Baba Ali (dad) told us we would be going to Esfahan on holiday I didn’t know what it really meant to go on holiday as I had never been on one and I didn’t know what to expect.
“Although I had heard of Esfahan and had seen some pictures of the city in a book, to me it was just a far, far away old city. But let me tell you that I know now that going on holiday is fun and Esfahan is amazing.
“On the day of our trip, when we got on the minibus we were all very excited because for the first time in our lives we were going on a long trip and that was very, very exciting. It took us 14 hours over two days to get to Esfahan. We were so tired when we arrived and it was nighttime but the city was very, very busy with cars and people going everywhere, much busier than Kerman where we live.
“As we had travelled to Esfahan as the guest of the Mayor of Esfahan city we were staying in the most beautiful and comfortable guest house. We couldn’t believe we were so lucky. I myself never thought I would ever, ever go to these sorts of places.
“The Mayor and everybody at the guest house were really nice to us and treated us very kindly. We were so proud to be staying there and Baba Ali kept on telling us ‘enjoy it but don’t let your head get too big’.
“During our 10-day holiday, we visited many historical sites and old palaces. Esfahan has many of them because it used to be the capital city of Iran many, many years ago before Tehran. We also walked by Zayandeh Rood which is a very big river running through the city and I think it must be the most beautiful place in Iran. We also walked over Siosepol which is a 300 metres long and 14 metres wide bridge. It was built over 400 years ago and I had never imagined such a bridge was possible. It is amazing and I really think it must be the biggest bridge in the whole world. I think the engineer who built this bridge must have been a genius. I think I would like to become an engineer one day and build a bridge like that.
“We also went to a museum and looked at some old clothes and dishes. Some of them were thousands of years old. We went to parks and to the zoo as well. All the animals were great and I especially liked the monkeys – they were naughty and made us laugh.
“On the last day of our trip the Mayor, who is really, really nice and kind, treated us to a day at the funfair. We went on so many rides and I had the best time of my life. We were all a bit sad when we had to come back.
“I really miss my mother and little sister every day. I wish they had the chance to see Esfahan before the earthquake. But I think I am very lucky – I wish they were as lucky as me.”
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