(P) The new building of Deutsche Schule Bukarest is the clear proof that ‘Everything will be alright!’

One of the questions that Friederike Gribkowsky asked herself, the president of DSBU Council, at the beginning of the spring was: ‘What will be the name for the science lab of the new school?’ Oh, and there is something else…. ‘What kind of surprises did the pupils prepare for the 1st of March and what would they prepare for the 8th of March?’

Every year, DSBU pupils prepare comprehensively for these two days. The effervescence that includes the classes, the colors that dominate the working tables, the flowers, the small pieces that will be assembled in ‘mărțișoare’, the greetings cards with the unequal writing of the younger pupils and (not that often) from the bigger ones, the constant intercultural exchange that fills this DSBU image has marked the DSBU spring for 12 years in a row already. And then, everything stopped… Or at least that is what happened in the world around DSBU. For DSBU, the fulfillment of the promises remains a priority.

‘We have promised that we will start the school year 2020-2021 in a completely new, modern building – in fact, one of the most modern schools in Europe.’ – says Ms. Gribkowsky. ‘Therefore, in September our children will be there.’

500 students, 3 sports-fields, a sports hall, an athletics track, a library, an auditorium, 2 science laboratories, one IT lab, creche, kindergarten, school, high school, parking area for almost 100 cars – this would be a simple and dry description of DSBU.

The constructor workers are working daily at the building, despite the almost general blockade that was caused by COVID-19.

It seems that the story of this school that started in a living room, which once had 2 students, then only one and now has children from creche to the last year of high school had to pass another huge hurdle. In our childhood stories, there is always a hero who goes through the hardest trials because he never gives up his faith. Perhaps one of the heroes of these days of April 2020, in a full pandemic, is DSBU. Because it keeps hope alive.

‘The proof that all will be well is the fact that our new school will be ready and that we will restart in September under truly European conditions,’ adds the school board president. ‘If I were to say a single value that we never gave up and we will never give up, even when we had only one student, even now when the future is so uncertain for all of us, this would be the wellbeing for each child. When you truly believe that every child deserves the best you can give, then the obstacles are very easy to run over.