Almost to the day, we returned on 11th September 2025 to the village of Qafar, located just a few dozen kilometres from Erbil. Last year, we carried out a physical reconstruction of the school, and this year the school was further equipped with essential school furniture, computer technology, and heaters.

Once again, our partner in this initiative was the non-governmental non-profit organisation Rwanga Foundation, which implemented the SSP. As this is a small village in the middle of Kurdish plains and fields, and a small school, there were sufficient funds left to address another pressing issue that had been troubling this village school. Now, we can say it was troubling. That issue was the supply of electricity. Despite significant progress made by the Kurdistan Region in this area, outages in the public electricity supply were still causing considerable difficulties for the pupils. Therefore, as part of this SSP, consideration was also given to green and sustainable energy, and solar panels were installed along with all the necessary technological infrastructure and mandatory revisions. As a result, the small school has become independent from the public grid and the financial costs of running the school have also been reduced.

The Czech Consulate General in Erbil is genuinely pleased that, through the tool of foreign development cooperation, another project has been completed which helps to improve the quality of primary education and provide pupils and teachers with suitable facilities in challenging climatic conditions.

The ceremonial opening was attended by representatives of the local regional government, local authorities, and the Rwanga Foundation. The reunion with the village elder was very emotional, and we were pleased to hear the words of thanks to the Czech Republic for the help it provides to the Kurdish people.

The Czech Consulate General in Erbil would like to thank all those who participated in this SSP and wishes everyone a successful new school year