As a member of the Yazidi community, Sido understands the importance of social cohesion. He has personal experience of the kind of suffering that can result from suspicion and distrust between different ethnic and religious groups.

Sido is the headteacher of a mixed-gender secondary school, where pupils from all backgrounds are encouraged to share and get along.  The classroom, he believes, is the best place to foster a sense of tolerance from an early age. He has worked and trained extensively in methods of promoting social tolerance, even participating in training programs overseas, to equip himself with the tools to promote good relationships between communities.

When Daesh rose to prominence in 2014, the Yazidis were one the first groups to be viciously targeted. Even long after the territory was liberated, many Yazidis were still fearful of leaving the house. Sido was of great help in convincing some of his community to venture out again. Having experience working on inter-faith training programs, Sido had the skills and patience to convince people to trust again.

“We had a program reintegrating people into the community”, he explained. “We took a group of survivors and took them out of the house for the first time [since liberation].  Together, we chatted about religion and culture. We went to the church and took part in normal cultural activities.”

Step by step, Sido helped build their confidence. To venture out, to trust and forgive: “The whole point was to remove ideas of vengeance or revenge, and for those who are still young, we tried to encourage them to go back to school.”

Children are especially vulnerable to recruiters of extremist ideologies. This is something that Sido has recognised and is determined to resist, as some of his students are still in a state of mental recovery from living under occupation: “The teacher is the inspiration for the students and can be a point of positive change.”

 As one of his strategies, Sido has hosted workshops for pupils, parents and teachers. He shared and celebrated success stories of those who had been deradicalized and reintegrated into society. Because of this, he was able to disconnect some of his students from armed militias.

One of the positive techniques Sido used, was to maintain a positive relationship between teachers and students with regular visits. Pupils often dropped out of school. However, with regular visits to their homes, he would convince them to return to their studies and graduate. “It’s not enough to be a teacher” he said. “You have to be a leader as well.”

When it comes to children who are processing trauma, constant attention needs to be paid to the pupil’s wellbeing. At Sido’s school, there are weekly awareness lessons on such things. Extra steps are taken. Coordinating with health centres, creating dedicated committees and staying alert to quickly spot unhealthy signs that the child may be struggling in some way.

Sido is well placed to talk of trauma. Being forced to flee your home in fear of death is a feeling that he knows all too well but the experience left him with a sense of determination. He recalls: “After we were displaced from camps, teachers agreed that our duty was to end extremism. And not to hate an entire family because of one person.”

Now, as a young and ambitious headteacher, Sido knows that a safe environment at school is one of the most important ingredients for good mental health of students. But fostering this environment cannot stop at the school gates. Good working relationships with parents are essential. “The school and the home complement each other. A safe environment at school must also complement this environment at home. This will allow the student to rise to higher academic levels and ensure sound mental and cultural health.”