Moon’s Story: “Give Me a Chance”
The first few months of Moon’s life in Indonesia after coming from Iraq were full of new sounds, smells, and moves to find someplace for her family to settle. Moon says it was stressful but she is so glad that her family never had to go to a shelter. Moon was eight years old when her family first came to Indonesia, her older brother was thirteen, and her sister six. Moon remembers feeling scared and yelling out to God and asking for help.
After some time, Moon and her family pieced together a life in Jakarta with the kids participating in a homeschool program in their local community. When this ended abruptly in 2017, Moon was desperate to keep learning but had no options. A year later during her weekly visit to the local mosque, her friend mentioned that they were studying at a place called Roshan. They said it was “like a too-small house for refugees to learn at.” Eager to get back into studying and learning, Moon, her sister, and her mother boarded a bus early in the morning the next week to see if they, too, could study at Roshan.
The bus ride from Moon’s home takes 2-3 hours. Moon never imagined that she and her sister would be taking such a long bus ride by themselves regularly, but for her, it was all worth it.
The first time Moon arrived at Roshan, classes were already full of students and the team was unsure where to put these two eager new young girls. “Please, I need to continue to learn,” Moon remembers saying to Ms. Ariane whom she met on the first day. Moon remembers saying, “Give me a chance, I can just sit outside of the classroom on the floor and take notes.” Her remarkable spirit and determination to keep learning were so clear that she was soon admitted as a Secondary student.
Five years later, Moon is still at Roshan teaching middle school math and studying for her GED exams through the GED prep program. Along with these responsibilities, as well as family and community responsibilities, Moon remains dedicated and always tries to make it to class. Moon has been known to create her schedule around Roshan activities and do everything in her power to make sure she never misses an opportunity to learn, teach, and grow.
Like many others in the Roshan family, Moon has made the most out of her education at Roshan and continues to give back with an inspiring sense of patience and purpose. When you ask Moon what helps her embrace her life in Indonesia, she says, “My parents and siblings just remind each other to be patient and God is big. We are 100% sure that God is preparing something good for us.”