Amerahnishren was enjoying the remainder of her 3-day vacation in Manila, when the armed conflict in Marawi City broke out.
“My grandmother, older sister, and I were exploring Manila,” Amerahnishren said in Filipino. The trip was a gift from her parents for doing well at school.
Upon returning home, the 10-year-old girl was greeted with bad news.
Marawi was on fire and they no longer had a home.
Amerahnishren’s family quickly evacuated to an uncle’s house in Lanao del Norte. There, she could not sleep.
“I miss our home, my room, and my own bed,” she confessed.
But what Amerahnishren misses the most are things that she could never recover. “I miss our family photos and the letters my mother wrote me.”
Amerahnishren is very close to her parents, who often write her letters whenever they’re away on business trips in Manila or abroad.
She also misses the friends she left behind; she’s uncertain whether her friends made it out of Marawi safely.
“I keep thinking about our house in Marawi,” said Amerahnishren. “I wish the crisis in Marawi ends.”
Conflict won’t stop my schooling
Now in 5th grade, Amerahnishren’s education was briefly disrupted.
Forced to leave her school in Marawi, Amerahnishren had to enroll in a new school. Since the crisis displaced around 80,000 children, host schools have very limited capacity to provide quality education to all transferee students.
Amerahnishren, like many other displaced students, are currently studying in a tent.
Such changes, however, are not stopping Amerahnishren’s love for learning. The 5th grader still loves to read and draw.
Unfortunately, not all displaced children were able to return to school like Amerahnishren. Some are too hesitant to return to class since they lack clothes and school supplies.
“My wish for my fellow evacuee children is for them to study hard,” she shared. “So that when they return to Marawi, everything will be okay.”
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