“I believe that success in life is a matter of work and faith, like walking along a long road until we reach our aim. Nothing can define me, neither my shape, nor size, nor weight, because I trust my emotions and believe in my dreams.” Our reader from Africa, Ferhat Bezazel, shares his story with us.

I live in a little village named Ain Kechera in the east of Algeria. Most of the people in this village are illiterate. I discovered early in my life that illiteracy is the real problem in our society, the source of all conflicts that we experience everyday in our village.

A few of us, like me, had the opportunity to get a good education. Most children leave their classrooms before finishing school and go to work with their parents in their fields. They have no professional skills and most of them are not even able to read a newspaper. What is worse is that most families do not allow their daughters to go to school.

One day, a little girl came to me with a piece of paper in her hands with a picture on it. She said she had had a dream, that an angel taught her how to read and write so she could go to school and play with the children there. I was touched by the little girl’s story. I said, in this world, there are many angels and many kind-hearted people who will help her make her dream come true.

I taught her how to read and right and in the meantime, we have converted our garage into a small school where girls come to study. Now, we have more than 40 girls in our class. Despite the many obstacles we faced in the beginning,   many girls were optimistic and they loved our classes.

The good part is that every single person in my village, rich or poor, is able to contribute something to the project so that all girls can have a chance at knowledge and discover new things. We have also launched a club for the friends of the Deutsche Welle in Ain Kechera and we use CDs to teach the girls new things.

I have learnt that a loving heart does not need to have a platform. One person’s small effort could be a big inspiration for another and in this manner we can create an Africa full of hope and knowledge.

Author: Ferhat Bezazel

Editor: Manasi Gopalakrishnan