An Italian island school reopened after 20 years for one child whose family refused to leave

A six-year-old girl living beneath one of Europe's most active volcanoes recently became the only pupil at a school that the Italian media is calling the smallest in Europe and where the bell hadn't rung for the past 20 years. On September 10, 2026, Aysha went off to her first day of school in Ginostra, a tiny hamlet on the side of the Stromboli volcano, with a pink backpack and a cone of sweets in her hands. According to Italian news agency ANSA, she was visibly moved as her parents walked her in to meet her teacher, Laura Mongi, who had come down from the outskirts of Milan.An island inside an islandThe fishing hamlet of Ginostra is part of the town of Lipari, on the Italian island of Stromboli is so isolated that residents have christened it 'the island within an island.' With no roads connecting it to the rest of the island and access only by boat, the community is often left cut off from the rest of the world.A donkey takes care of the logistics, and water comes in by a tanker. The village once had its own primary school, but it closed decades ago when the population dwindled to around 40 residents. "The town of Lipari is spread across six different islands, Lipari, Vulcano, S...