Schoolchildren from the Russian town of Beslan on Sunday thanked His Majesty King Abdullah for their visit to Jordan, saying the experience opened their eyes to the similarities between the two cultures.

Eighty-eight children from the school, which was targeted by a terrorist attack two years ago, arrived in Amman last Monday to spend their autumn holiday in the country upon an invitation from King Abdullah, who was in Moscow when the incident occurred.

“Two years have passed already since the tragedy and some of us felt we had been forgotten. This trip shows us that this is not true,” said Alikova Alana, 18, referring to the September 2004 hostage-taking and massacre at her secondary school.

The three-day drama resulted in the death of 331 people, including 186 children.

The director of the Beslan school, Dzutseva Ludmila, said almost 90 per cent of the 88 children visiting Jordan were injured in one way or another on the first day of the hostage incident, though only a few were part of the group taken hostage in the school's gymnasium.

She added they were all in need of continued psychological rehabilitation.

“After what happened, the biggest problem was inside the minds of the children. People started to worry about them,” Ludmila said. “It is good for them to come to Jordan and see how similar our traditions and cultures are.”

The students have been to Petra, Wadi Rum, Aqaba, the Dead Sea and Ajloun, where they picked olives alongside local farmers. They have also visited mosques and taken lessons in dancing and music at the Performing Arts Centre in Amman.

Their Majesties King Abdullah and Queen Rania attended a musical show at King's Academy today, where some of the students performed traditional Arabic dances, played local drums and participated in a skit of a Jordanian marriage celebration. The King and Queen also viewed artwork painted by the children during their stay in Jordan.

The children have been traveling with Jordanian students during their trip and the developing friendships have helped heal wounds, according to Rustem Kelekhsaev, minister of youth, physical culture and sports for the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania.

“This trip has been very useful for the children. Communicating with peers from other countries, seeing sights and keeping active helps them through this rehabilitation,” he said.

Agnes Bashir, music teacher at the Performing Arts Centre and president of the Arab Alliance of Women in Music, is originally from the same region as the students and recalls being glued to the television watching the hostage crisis unfold.

After teaching the children about Arabic rhythms and talking to them about their experience, she feels the vacation has done them some good — both emotionally and intellectually.

“It is good for them to come here and see our country because they had a very poor idea of what Jordan is like. It is very important for them to see how East and West connect,” she said.

The Jordan Times