The Instagram Kids of M’arefat School

Girls and boys aged between eight and 12 are gathered on the river bank, wearing school uniforms of different colors and styles. The river’s waters have risen and now the schoolteacher — known to the kids from Ayer-Ghayeh village as “Mr. Teacher” — has no choice but to take off his shoes to cross the river to get to the school. 

Recently, the kids at M’arefat school have caught the attention of a wider audience. The school’s Instagram page, which features scenes like the one described above, has more than 5,000 followers, many of whom have come to know the pupils — Hakim, Nargol, Safoura, Asieh, and others — by name. And the page has some out-of-the-ordinary fans, including Fereshteh Karimi, the first lady of Iranian futsal, as well as a number of well known actors. As it has gained popularity among artists and celebrities, the page has also led to good things for the school: donations of text books, stationery, and even sporting equipment began to arrive at the school.

Meghdad Bagherzadeh, a 26-year-old teacher who travels 168 miles each week to teach the kids, is the page’s administrator. It shows what life in this remote school is like, featuring photographs of the smiling kids and their teacher, and telling stories about their lives. Sometimes they play football; other photographs show them wandering around the hills and forests that surround the village.

When I asked if I could talk to Mr Teacher to mark National Teachers Day, he told me there was no telephone connection in the village. I would have to wait for him to go to the top of the mountain — “ which is a little difficult to get to,” he said — or travel by motorcycle to a village 15 miles away. “I will call you when I arrive,” he said.

A few hours later, Mr. Teacher called. He talked about his students with fondness, and about life in the village as he sees it. “Life is very simple here. None of the kids have ever been to the city. I admire their sincerity, their purity and their lack of pretensions.” Since there is no internet connection in the village, the children have not been able to see the now-famous Instagram page Mr.Teacher has set up.

Ayer-Ghayeh is in the Iranian province of North Khorasan, right on the border with Turkmenistan. In addition to teaching, Bagherzadeh is studying for a Master’s degree in counseling. He has been one of two teachers at M’arefat school for about four years now. Each Saturday, he travels the long distance between his home  and the village. “I leave on Saturdays at 3:30am and get to school at 7:30 in the morning,” he told me. “I return to my town on Wednesdays because I need the internet for my studies.” He is normally tired when he returns to the village, but when the kids are so happy to see him, he knows all his efforts are worthwhile. 

When he’s back at home studying, Bagherzadeh also updates the Instagram page, posting photographs and glimpses of his students’ everyday lives. In one post, he writes about how one of his students, Hakim, after seeing that his teacher was particularly tired one Saturday, went back to his family house at break time and returned with a few eggs. “Mr. Teacher,” Hakim said, “when you get home eat these and you’ll be okay.”

At M’arefat primary school, the different grades are taught in the same classrooms. Sometimes Bagherzadeh has to tend to third-graders for dictation, to fifth-graders for book transcription and to sixth-graders for mathematics — all at the same time. “I teach third, fifth and sixth grades,” he says. “My colleague teaches first, second and fourth grades. The school does have additional classrooms, but they are on top of the mountain. Getting there is dangerous, so we decided to divide the school day into two shifts in the classroom in the village. I teach in the mornings and my colleague has the afternoons.”

Stars Returns the Love

M’arefat’s Instagram fame had an unlikely start. About a year ago, a TV aerial was erected in the village, and suddenly villagers had access to state television. Many of the kids at M’arefat school fell in love with a popular TV show called “Kimia,” and in particular, one of the show’s stars, Mohammadreza Sharifinia. Bagherzadeh kept finding notes from the children about the show and Sharifinia, scrawled on the blackboard, or on small pieces of paper in the classroom. Then they asked Mr Teacher to help them pass their message on to Sharifinia, to let her know they are big fans of hers. 

“The TV aerial came to the village about a year ago,” Bagherzadeh told me. “Even now, it only receives channels one, two and three. But the kids love Kimia. They think I am Superman and that I can do anything. I was at a loss as to how to find Ms Sharifina. I am a simple teacher. Eventually, I was able to contact her through one of the show’s producers. I gave her the kids’ message. Then she sent a reply. We printed her message out, and pinned it on the wall of the schoolroom. The kids cherish it.” He also posted a photograph of the message hanging on the classroom wall on Instagram. 

After this, the page started becoming popular with artists and actors. Many of them not only began following the page, they also volunteered to help the pupils. “Many actors and artists helped by, for example, buying stationery,” Bagherzadeh said. Actors who follow the page include Fariba Kosari, Nader Solaymani, Bahareh Kianafshar and Amin Zendegani, all well known in Iran. 

In late April, the school received a gift that delighted the kids. “A neurosurgeon sent the school a complete computer system with a printer and peripherals,” Bagherzadeh said. “But he would not tell us his name, no matter how much I pressed him.” On Instagram, there is a photo of each student standing by the computer or holding up a printer cartridge or a keyboard, smiling broadly at Mr. Teacher. 

Fereshteh Karimi, the first lady of Iranian futsal, is among the school’s Instagram page followers. “Ms. Karimi was very generous,” Bagherzadeh said. “She sent us money so that we could buy the kids sports shoes, footballs and sports equipment.” Some of the girls at the school love football — four of them appear smiling on Instagram. “Surprisingly, these four are in love with football,” the caption reads. “During the breaks they insist we form teams and play football. Asieh plays better even than the boys.”

But Mr. Teacher is worried about the future education of his female pupils. “The village has no middle school or high school. After the sixth grade, kids have to travel to neighboring villages five or 10 miles aways. Families don’t often allow girls to go, so they end up with only a primary school education.” But Bagherzadeh has taken it upon himself to persuade parents otherwise. He has his doubts about how successful he’ll be, but he is trying.

Teachers Day is special to Bagherzadeh, and he has some good memories from previous years.  “This not like the city. The students all bring me valuable gifts — their value is emotional not material,” he said. “For example, one student brought me a flower, another a pack of cookies and the third one some chocolate.” This year, he said it was perhaps Hakim’s gift that touched him the most. “He hadn’t given me anything and I could see he was unhappy,” he said. “Halfway through the class he asked to be excused and left. A few minutes later he returned with a bag of onions that he had picked at his family’s plot. He put the bag on my desk and said, ‘Mr. Teacher, this is for you.’” 

Bagherzadeh doesn’t want to think about working anywhere else.“They told me at the office I could go to a school nearer to my home,” he said, emotion clear in his voice. “But to tell the truth, I can’t forget the generosity of these kids. Hakim’s gift is very precious to me and it brings me a lot of joy.”

In the most recent photograph posted on Instagram, Bagherzadeh is sitting on his motorcycle. Three of his students are seated behind One has a book in his hand, and all three are smiling at the camera. “A good spring day,” reads the caption. “Must get the motorcycle fixed after school, but right now, it’s a good day.”