Yousef experienced studying in an actual school shortly after his 10th birthday

Five years ago, when it was time for little Yousef to start school, his only option was to study in a dark and dusty basement on the outskirts of Ar-Rastan in northern rural Homs.

A group of passionate teachers had come together, using whatever they could rescue from schools destroyed in fighting in the area and turned the basement into a makeshift school.

“I remember it being very stuffy,” recalls Yousef who attended the underground school for three years. “And we were often interrupted by noises of nearby fighting,” he says.