I Have Missed Three Years of Their Lives
My husband told me to go to Germany with our youngest son because I am a math teacher and can speak English, and because I am strong.
Editing by Twila Bird
Photography by Christophe Mortier
Our home in Aleppo was bombed.
We fled to Turkey all together—my four sons, my husband, and I—but we only had enough money to pay the smuggler for two of us to get to Europe. My husband told me to go to Germany with our youngest son because I am a math teacher and can speak English, and because I am strong.
After two years of being separated and trying very hard to bring them to me, my husband became sick. He has been diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. That was one year ago, and no matter how hard I try, we are being kept apart. I feel so helpless. I don’t feel strong anymore. I can’t sleep, I get dizzy, and there is a constant ringing in my ears. Some days I can’t even get out of bed.
I worry about my three teenage sons, who not only don’t have their mother but must now take care of their father and worry about how to eat and pay for his medicine. Their childhood is lost. I have missed three years of their lives. I will never get them back.
Update: A judge allowed for the family’s reunification in November 2018. Now Amina lives together with her husband and four sons in Germany.
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