As the chilly winter sun rises, their red cheeks burned by the frozen air, Hamida and her friends skip merrily on the way to school against the majestic backdrop of mountains and a vast lake - the Nurek reservoir.
The dawn mist slowly clears in the village of Chashma, perched high up a valley in southeast Tajikistan, as the laughter and bickering of children is heard in the schoolyard.
(In the Soviet era, this village and the town of Nurek, were built to house engineers working on the Nurek dam - which on its completion in 1980 was the world's tallest.)
Headmaster Nurali Tabarov greets the learners as they line up for their daily exercise routine.
"One, two, three, four!" he says as the girls and boys take hops and jumps to ensure they are wide awake for their first lesson with teacher Pirova Dilorom.
When Dilorom started teaching here 25 years ago, the children weren't quite so eager for lunchtime to arrive.
"Back then, I was really concerned about the quality of the children's meals, mainly made of clear soup," she says.
"But now I can see a huge change in (what's served on) the plates, and for the children themselves. The attendance rates are visibly soaring".
