Sarya Gözüoğlu/JINHA

RIHA - Hîlava and Cala Temo are two sisters from Kobanê. The sisters, living in a refugee camp in Turkey, say their biggest dream is to return home and continue their music classes.

When Daesh began an assault on Kobanê last year, Hîlava and Cala Temo were among the thousands who fled just across the border to Turkey. There, their family took up residence in the tent city set up by volunteers and local government in the town of Suruç, just across the border from Kobanê.

After Kobanê was liberated from Daesh in January, Kobanê residents began to return to the city as it was being rebuilt. Hîlava and Cala's family had returned to the city when, on June 25, Daesh launched a massive attack on civilians in the city, killing hundreds and forcing the family to flee to Turkey once again.

The two sisters love to sing, and their voices can be heard at nearly every concert and cultural event that takes place in the camp. However, they say they want to return to their friends and teachers.

"I sing songs here, but I want to continue in Kobanê," said 14-year-old Hîlava. "I was going to school. Now I lost everything. But we're going to rebuild it. We're going to rebuild Kobanê and rebuild my school and our culture center, too."

When we asked Hîlava whom she missed the most, she immediately answered that she missed her teacher, Zozan. Zozan later joined the YPJ, the women's defense force defending Rojava.

"Maybe when Rojava is totally free she'll give us music classes again. Ms. Zozan was the one who convinced me to do music. She made me love music," she said. Hîlava said that now she, too, hopes to be a music teacher. She wants to teach scales and musical notation to small children.

Hîlava's sister, Cala, is two years younger than her. She also likes to sing.

"Now like my friends, I'm waiting to return to Kobanê," said Cala. "We went to Kobanê for a while. We went on stage at [Kurdish holiday] Newroz. Then we came back here. I got really excited. I want to go back to school with my friends."

(be/fk/cm)