It had been a normal day for 18-year-old twins Makarem and Ikram when their school came under fire.
Makarem was in an English literature class and Ikram was in a science lesson when they heard “strange sounds” coming from outside the school in Sudan.
Then the shelling started.
Makarem says her shoulder “tilted” as she was struck. Screaming, her classmates dropped to the floor to avoid shellfire and find somewhere to hide.
“We took cover beside the wall and the girl who was standing in front of me put her hand on my shoulder and said: ‘Your shoulder is bleeding.'”
In the chaos, the two sisters, who had been in separate classrooms, tried to reach each other but couldn’t. Later, Ikram searched for her sister, not knowing she’d already been taken to hospital.
Like others who were injured, Makarem was taken to hospital by local residents who drove the wounded by car and animal-drawn carts because there was no ambulance service in el-Obeid, the city where they lived.
Eventually, her teachers and classmates had to convince Ikram to abandon the search and go home.
It was only when Makarem returned home from hospital later that day that her family found out she was still alive.
“I waited for her outside the front door and when I saw her coming we all cried,” says Ikram, who had been in a part of the school that wasn’t hit, so was unharmed.
