President Barzani funds Turkmen school, kindergarten project
Shafaq News- Kifri
The Rwanga Foundation, on Friday, handed over a new building for Qara Oghlan Primary School and Khonchagul Kindergarten in Kifri district, which teach in the Turkmen language, during an official ceremony.
According to the foundation, the project was carried out with direct personal funding from Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) President Nechirvan Barzani, with Rwanga Foundation tasked with implementing the construction.
The school was built on an area of 2,500 square meters and includes nine classrooms, biology and chemistry laboratories, and fully equipped halls.
Hilal Abdul Hamid Mustafa, head of the Rwanga Foundation's office in Kifri, told Shafaq News that the two facilities, originally built between 1993 and 1998, represent more than reconstructed buildings and walls, describing the project as a message reinforcing peaceful coexistence.
"Any service provided to components and minorities is a service to the entire district of Kifri," Mustafa said. He added that "This city has been home to national diversity for more than 5,000 years,” clarifying that “Jews lived here until the 1940s, and the Turkmen have long been skilled artisans and genuine partners alongside the Kurds in serving the region. This project is simply an extension of that historical legacy."
The project benefits around 150 students and teachers across Qara Oghlan School, Shahid Mohammed Gorkmaz School, and Khonchagul Kindergarten.
Mustafa described education in one's mother tongue as a fundamental right, cornerstone of mutual respect, and cultural preservation for every community. “Diversity should be seen not as a source of division but as an asset that enriches society,” he said, noting that instilling respect for language and community identity in children “lays the foundation for a generation committed to peace and coexistence.”
The Rwanga Foundation is a non-governmental organization founded in 2013 and based in Erbil, working to widen access to education and deliver community services across Iraq. It says it has reached more than three million people through its education, youth, environment, and vulnerable-groups programs.
