This painful thoughts come to mind and sensation when we look carefully at the picture of Bereaved young lady “Nour Al- Samman”, and may be you shocked – dear reader – to use this word (Bereaved) with this innocence, life, and hope full of picture, with this deep smart eyes from girl has many things to do in her live at future, a girl has many things to dream of, and many dreams to accomplish, under high care from his parents, to raise her up with best breeding and best education.

What make this particular case more painful is knowing how she died, with details indicate neglecting and slackness from her supervisors, whom we expect the heist degrees of care to do their professional, humanitarian, and moral duties, with those children in their custody. We know that any one, in normal situation, try to do his work or duty, as best as he can, because it’s the work which make living from, and for his professional and social reputation in his society, even if this work have no dangerous influences at lives or money. It’s the simplest rules between peoples. So how is it, if there is an innocence lives waiting his care, and innocence souls waiting no harm from outside environment, staying in save under the protection of parents, teachers and schools.

In this context, we can consider the death of Nour Al- Samman a huge disaster at any standard, disaster for this parents, lovers and relatives, friends and colleagues. Also it’s a disaster to Educational institutions as responsible foundations. This disaster points directly to this peculiar school, which leads – with its careless attention to Safety Requirements in a very danger Camping trip – to this sad end. Everyone know that this kind of trips need a very good preparation, in transportation, camping, and even more important, to prepare good supervising crew to take this difficult mission to take care of young people under thirteen in such place with no police or fast ambulance to intervene when need.

Like that, “The American School in Damascus” took that risk, and put those children in dangerous trip, without minimum level of safety in such situations, getting them into far place at desert. No safe place to sleep, there is no hotel or standing camp, and there is no good tent. This nothing comparing to transporting facilities, which not good for human use first of all, so how about getting a small bodies of children in it. But the real mistake is to put two supervisors, who didn’t get the minimum requirement of caring such little boys and girls. Otherwise; how we can explain that both of them get in cabin of front car leaving the children without control back in there. If there argument is that bad things never happens or it happens rarely. So their great badness is happened indeed.
But the worst of all is not telling the truth and lying at parents to make this journey happen, Mr. Ahmad Al- Samman – the father of Nour – said that he didn’t agree at participation of his daughter in this trip, but the administration of school, so the manager of school (mr. Mike Kent) ask to meet him and assure him – and his wife – that every thing is O.K. In front of supervisors of the journey (Mr. Aerek Layman, Mrs. Katy baw, Mr. Scott Kreger), the manager assure to Mr. Samman that every thing is under control. The manager said to Mr. Samman that all children will sleep in one place (tent) with supervisors with them (boys in one side, girls in another). Mrs. Katy assure to Mrs. Samman when she demand to go with them that another lady came with them at last year in the same journey, and when she found every think ok, she turned back to Damascus at next day, so no need to retry this verification.
Under this strong assurances, Mr. Samman changed his disagreement, and agree that his daughter to go in educational scouting trip. And here we have this question: why administration of school assisted on parents to send their children on journeys like that even if they don’t like it? Is it to get any money, or to keep the reputation of school journeys? We will never know, but what we are sure about that any of those assurances is available at that fateful trip, though the parents paid a good budget could cover all of it.

This serious of bad direction is not end so far, to very bad choice of drivers of two cars – they never used for human beings – and in particularly the driver of second car who was at seventeen at that time with no driving license. He was a child like who was in the back box in his truck, with no experience in driving or dealing with children. getting on that truck by that boy – just of it – in a very dangerous act, so how to drive with “a back car full of children”. what inconceivable.
So we can see that American School in Damascus didn’t meet any of promises. Mr. Samman said that his daughter called him crying at Wednesday 17/5/2006 and told him that she was lost in desert with no supervisors and the locals of Bedouins guided them to safety. And the question is: where were the supervisors?

All of those mentioned elements led to the disaster took place at Thursday 18/5/2006, we mean the death of child Nour Al- Samman in tragic and ugly way. Witnesses said while the children were going back to Damascus, after putting them in the back boxes of two trucks (pick Ups), and the two supervisor (Mr. Aerek Layman and Mrs. Katy baw) sat at the cabin of first truck leaving the children alone. Suddenly a hat of one of the children in the front car driven up by wind from her head and flied to the second car, and when Nour (12 years old) tried to pick up the hat, she failed down to the road. She had a bad injuries but not died yet, till the non-experience driver stop and turn back after he heard the yelling and screaming of children, then he hit Nour at her chest and brought her down to ground, so the collision on the ground caused her a break in the skull and this caused her death.

The non-experience driver lost his temper and didn’t drive the injured child to the nearest hospital. The front car went on it’s way without any attention to what happened. The supervisors had mistaken the simplest role of leading convoys by not verification all vehicles.

So, the child Nour stayed more than one hour without any kind of medical intervention, till a pass away vet gave her a Band-Aid and move her to Al-Bassel Hospital in Palmyra. But it was too late, the innocence child was put her soul in the hand of God, and died.

News agency SANA reported that child “Nour Al-Samman”, one student of American School in Damascus, died after falling down from a back box of open rear truck (Pick Up Mazda) – generally used for sheep and feed – during a tourism journey organized by the School to Palmyra and it’s desert for three days. Quoting of department of Palmyra Police the accident happened at 1.00 pm Thursday noon, when students turned back from visiting natural preserved area of Al-Tlila about 40 Km east Palmyra and the children was distributed to two trucks (Bick Ups), and they was setting alone in the second one.
The serious of lack of respect to people and their lives didn’t stop at that limit, when the manager of school and his aides broke the values of human decency with parents of the victim, and transgress the roles of sympathy and merciful behavior humans used to act at such circumstances. The manager called for Mr. Samman to his office and told him that his daughter was died without any introductions or explains. When the father broke down from what he had heard, the manager simply called the guards to pick up the man and throw him out.

Not just that, the manager ordered the tow supervisors – who was on charge at time of accident, and the police released them for non-direct responsibility – to leave the country (Syria) at once, to be far from the hand of law in future. Furthermore, they denied the financial and moral rights of the parents.
As matter of fact, Mr. Ahmad Al- Samman and his attorney informed about this school and it’s legal status, they discovered that the school haven’t any legal license. Ministry of Education is the only excusive side to give such license, and there is no license from it to “American School in Damascus”. In addition, there is no agreement from the legal department to make this trip as the Syrian law says. On other hand, this school is not linked to American embassy, so there is no immunity about it, as a foreign institute under cover. The American embassy said there is no relationship between it and this school, and Ministry of Education asked for official statement about this from the embassy.

So, the question is: if this school is not licensed from Ministry of Education, and there is no relationship between it and the American embassy, so under any law or instructions it worked? How it open it’s door? And how it received its students? And how it give it’s certificates? It’s a big questions before the government and the officials take care about such issue, and shed a strong light ont special educational institutes and how it works, because it’s about the future of our young men and women, the future of country and nation.

Mr. Samman insistence to pursuit the case at the Syrian courts is not for money. There is no amount of money can offset his lost daughter. But he tries to prove to those who caused this tragedy by there neglecting and bad orientation, that the value of human life is the greatest issue, to whom come from a state claims trusteeship on “Human Rights Values”, and first of it the right to stay alive. Mr. Samman wants to say that the human soul is the greatest value, in every religion, legislation, and law (who save a life as he save all lives). He says that if this accident happened in the country of those two supervisors, he can get a millions of dollars as amends. And Mr. Samman want to say to all, that the human soul have the same value at any place in the world, no difference between human and other human beings.

Nothing of what have been said or written could ease the tribulation on Mr. Samman and his family and relatives and friends. It’s much more harder than any consolation words. And nothing more can we said than the merciful God words who promise patients and who believe in him and his justice and afterlife in his heaven.

All can we say: may God take this innocence child to his holy vicinity in heaven, and give her parents and lovers the patience and solace, to replace their pain and grief to lights coming up of Nour smile, and that smile joins them all days, with love, forgiveness, sweetness, and faith of God.

an interview with mr. Ahmad Al Samman on the death of his daughter:

supervisors where sitting beside the driver in the first car, when Nour Ahmed Samman, fall from the open trunk of the second car when the non-certificated minor driver suddenly stopped after he received a phone call from the supervisors asking him to search for a hat that fall from a child in the first car. he stopped and returned back by car and hit the girl after she fall, that led to the fracture of the skull by the impact on the head and led to her tragic death. she was dragged ten meters on the road.

Going back to the sources of the Ministry of Education show that the American School in Damascus is not licensed according to Special Education Law and contrary to accept Syrian students. in addition to that it could not get approval for the trip therefore, the school administration is fully responsibility for this incident due to the actions taken and precautions required for the safety of students and security.

One month prior to the accident Mr and Mrs Samman received a letter from the Damascus Community School (DCS), asking there permission to send there daughter Nour on a trip to Palmyra for the sixth grade children, they refused to give the approval first. then after ten days later they received a phone call from the secretary of Mr. Michael Kent the director of the school informing that Mr. Kent would like to see them in his office.
the meeting with Kent, and the two supervisors Eric Lyman and Katie Boe,  was about the trip, they asked Sammans why they didn’t agree to send there daughter to the trip. so Mr.Samman explained to them that he never let his daughter sleep outside her home and reminded them that one month ago, the school had arranged an overnight stay for the children on the field of the school which Nour didn’t go to, so how can they leave her to sleep for two nights, hundreds of miles away from them?

Mr.Kent and the supervisors assured Mr and Mrs Samman that they will be taking all the precautions to keep the children safe and also strictly assured  that  no harm will happen to any of them as they will be accompanied by the two supervisors at all times.
Ahmad Samman (Nour’s Father) asked the director about the name of the hotel they have booked for the children and he said that they will be sleeping out in a tent in a specially chosen place in the desert with the two supervisors. He assured that the quality and safety will be better than any hotel. They were fully confident that everything would be fine.
After a very long discussion, the parents agreed to send there daughter to the trip but the mother wanted to go with her. However, Ms. Katie Boe said last year a mother of one girl attended the trip and after she arrived to Palmyra, she found everything was well organized so she returned back to Damascus, and the mother has three other children to look after at home she agreed not to go.

On Wednesday May the 17th at 8:30 pm, Nour called her father from her cell-phone crying and complaining after the supervisors had left her with a few other children alone and they lost their way for few hours in the desert with one Bedouin and a camel.
the father her if she wants him to come to pick her up back home.  She said it is not necessary as they are safe now in the tent.
she was not allowed to talk more than five minutes and has to switch off her mobile phone immediately.

on Thursday 17th of May around 1:00 pm the parents received a phone call from the school asking them to come to school urgently. they were there in short period of time and waited around 20 minutes until Mr. Kent let them into his office.
The parents were so worried when Kent  told them that Nour has had an accident as she fell down from a pick-up truck.
Mr Samman was shocked and asked  “Have you put the children in a pick-up truck!?”
He replied, “She died.” without taking the effort to break the bad news.
When they heard that, the parents immediately collapsed on the floor when Kent asked  the security guards to throw them out of the school instead calming them down.

it was possible for Kent to ask Mr. Samman’s brother to pass the bad news in a way that has a little humanity. as of he has a child in the same school.

They destroyed our family, Mr Samman Said. her mother asked the supervisors to join trip but they refused and claimed that there is no enough space in the bus for her.

Putting children in a pick-up truck which is not suitable for animals!
They cheaply used a pick up trucks instead of a mini buses.
The children were crowded in two pick-up trucks, and Nour was in the second one, there wasn’t any supervisor or any other adult to protect them from the uneven roads of the desert. Instead, the supervisors were sitting in the first pick up beside the driver and of course they fastened there seat belts to be sure that they are safe and without caring about the children! ” the police in the USA fine you if you don’t fasten your seatbelt” so the parents thought they would do the same thing in this “American” school, instead they of that put them in a truck that isn’t even suitable for animals!
To complete the mess, they didn’t bother to check that the pick up driver they choose was a qualified driver.  after the accident the police found out that he doesn’t even hold a driving license.

Due to this lack of basic concepts of children safety, Nour had dropped out of the pick up truck which caused a significant fracture in the base of the skull and caused immediate death.

This trip was badly arranged from the very beginning and until the tragedy of Nour’s death took place.

the Damascus Community School (the American School) is fully responsible for the death of the 12 years old Nour Al Samman !!

The local government didn’t arrested the supervisors even after the prosecutor issued an arrest warrant.

The American embassy in Damascus said that the school is not under there supervision, while Mr. Stephan A.Seche happen to be the chairman of the school and the person in charge of affairs in the embassy in the same time !!