A music school in the Iraqi city of Basra is offering children the opportunity to learn musical instruments, in the hope of providing distraction from the country's ongoing violence that has destroyed so many lives and futures.
The school, staffed by volunteers, gives lessons to children from age 5 to 16 on various instruments such as guitar, piano and flute.
Many of the young students have only seen these instruments on TV but never in real life, and they're willingly giving up playtime to attend summer music lessons.
“We are learning music, which is better than playing in the street. I haven't seen a piano before, only on TV, but now we are playing with one in addition to the guitar and violin, so it's way better than playing with toy guns and that sort of stuff. This is a great opportunity to for us to learn (music) while on summer vacation, before school starts,” said Ridha Falah, one of the music students.
“Everything in here is beautiful,” said another student, Rana Nibras.
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