Published TUESDAY May 20, 2025: 'DARE TO DREAM: New Hope For Syria' by ZUMA Press award winning photo-journalist Elke Scholiers: Jobar is a devastated suburb of Syria's capital Damascus and a former stronghold of rebels, who fought on the front line for years. Now that Assad has been driven out and the guns have fallen silent, families are trying to rebuild their lives amid the rubble. Laughter can be heard again at school, but traumas are simmering beneath the surface. In just six months after the toppling of former president Bashar al-Assad, Syria has gone from a global pariah to a country of promise. President Trump has announced he would end all US sanctions on Syria, a move he said ''gives them a chance at greatness''. Suddenly there's new hope that the shattered country can be rebuilt. 7 million Syrians were displaced within the country during the conflict. Bringing them back is perhaps the biggest challenge Syria now faces. Welcome to 'DARE TO DREAM: New Hope For Syria'
© zReportage.com Issue #990 Story of the Week: Published TUESDAY May 20, 2025: 'DARE TO DREAM: New Hope For Syria' by ZUMA Press award winning photo-journalist Elke Scholiers: Jobar is a devastated suburb of Syria's capital Damascus and a former stronghold of rebels, who fought on the front line for years. Now that Assad has been driven out and the guns have fallen silent, families are trying to rebuild their lives amid the rubble. Laughter can be heard again at school, but traumas are simmering beneath the surface. In just six months after the toppling of former president Bashar al-Assad, Syria has gone from a global pariah to a country of promise. President Trump has announced he would end all US sanctions on Syria, a move he said ''gives them a chance at greatness''. Suddenly there's new hope that the shattered country can be rebuilt. 7 million Syrians were displaced within the country during the conflict. Bringing them back is perhaps the biggest challenge Syria now faces. Welcome to 'DARE TO DREAM: New Hope For Syria'

Walking over a hug mound of dirt, school kids leave Zamalka mixed school after class in Jobar, Damascus. Assad had a network of loyal followers in Damascus. ''Parents and people from all walks of life clicked together. Teachers were watched and children were subtly interrogated,'' recalls Mouna, the school director.
© Elke Scholiers/ZUMA Press Wire

A family leaves their home in Jobar, Damascus. The majority of families returned to Jobar after former president, Bashar al-Assad fled Syria and are rebuilding their homes. Jobar, a suburb of the Syrian capital, was destroyed in the civil war.
© Elke Scholiers/ZUMA Press Wire

Beneath he black windows of apartments being renovated after the war, students perform a morning greeting on the renovated playground of Zamalka mixed school in Jobar, Damascus. Although the school building is still covered with scars, it stands out from the surrounding apartment blocks, all of which, without exception, have been shot to pieces. The three-striped flag behind them refers to the new regime.
© Elke Scholiers/ZUMA Press Wire

MOUNA EL SERMANI, the school principal in an abandoned classroom of the Zamalka mixed school in Jobar, Damascus. In the classrooms there are no more posters of Assad. ''They were all taken down in the days after December 8 last year,'' says Mouna. She began working here after years of displacement, even though her husband was injured and her brother and brother-in-law died during the war.
© Elke Scholiers/ZUMA Press Wire

A teacher checks a students work during a class at Zamalka mixed school in Jobar, Damascus. Although the school building is still covered with scars, it stands out from the surrounding apartment blocks, all of which, without exception, have been shot to pieces.
© Elke Scholiers/ZUMA Press Wire

Students play soccer on the renovated playground of Zamalka mixed school in Jobar. The three-striped flag refers to the new regime. All walls of the school were recently painted to remove visual references to former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
© Elke Scholiers/ZUMA Press Wire

Young boys sit together in class and listen to their teacher give lesson at Zamalka mixed school in Jobar, Damascus.
© Elke Scholiers/ZUMA Press Wire

A jumble of desks and chairs fill an unused third floor classroom of the Zamalka mixed school in Jobar, Damascus. The school was reopened in 2018.
© Elke Scholiers/ZUMA Press Wire

Students greet the teacher at Zamalka mixed school in Jobar, Damascus. A suburb of the Syrian capital, Jobar was for years a strategic front in the civil war and a location for former Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham militias. With the help of Russia, the suburb was destroyed by former Syrian president Bashar all-Assad.
© Elke Scholiers/ZUMA Press Wire

Students walk past a map of Syria on a wall as they return to class from the renovated playground of Zamalka mixed school on in Jobar, Damascus. The three-striped flag represents the new regime. All walls of the school were recently painted to remove visual references to former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
© Elke Scholiers/ZUMA Press Wire

A student writes on a whiteboard in english at Zamalka mixed school in Jobar, Damascus. Today, there are nearly a thousand children attending classes. Boys and girls between six and fifteen, who grew up among the rubble.
© Elke Scholiers/ZUMA Press Wire

A drawing of a house with trees and garden in peacetime, remains in a destroyed building in Jobar. A suburb of the Syrian capital Damascus, Jobar was for years a strategic front in the civil war and a location for former Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham militias. With the help of Russia, the suburb was destroyed by former Syrian president Bashar all-Assad.
© Elke Scholiers/ZUMA Press Wire

Students play on the renovated playground of Zamalka mixed school in Jobar suburb of Damascus. Jobar was totally destroyed during the civil war.
© Elke Scholiers/ZUMA Press Wire

A former Patriotism book from the Assad regime lays on the floor of the Zamalka mixed school in Jobar, Damascus. The educational books are being gradually replaced by new versions, the cover shows a flag with two stars, a reference to the presidency of Bashar al-Assad and the former national flag.
© Elke Scholiers/ZUMA Press Wire

Students stand for the teacher during a class at Zamalka mixed school in Jobar, Damascus. Today, there are nearly a thousand children attending classes. Boys and girls between six and fifteen, who grew up among the rubble.
© Elke Scholiers/ZUMA Press Wire

Students leave Zamalka mixed school after classes in Jobar, a suburb of the Syrian capital Damascus, which was for years a strategic front in the civil war and a location for former Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham militias.
© Elke Scholiers/ZUMA Press Wire

Brothers work together collecting tins of rubble and dirt in the suburb of Jobar, which was destroyed during the war, in Damascus. Once a hub of commerce and industry in the Middle East, Syria's means of production have been destroyed by years of conflict.
© Elke Scholiers/ZUMA Press Wire

Two girls sit together on a bench at a park in Jobar district overlooking the skyline of Damascus. Now that Assad has been driven out and the guns have predominantly fallen silent, families are trying to rebuild their lives amid the rubble. Laughter can be heard again at school, but traumas are simmering beneath the surface.
© Elke Scholiers/ZUMA Press Wire