Teenagers who lost friends in Grenfell fire create music video six months after tragedy

Owen Sheppard14 December 2017

Two teenagers who lost school friends in the Grenfell fire have filmed a music video to show how young people were affected by the disaster.

Yousra Cherbika and Johara Menacar, both 13, premiered the video to their song Fire in Grenfell at Electric Cinema in Notting Hill last night.

The premiere was timed to mark the six-month anniversary of the tragedy.

The screening, attended by actor Tim Downie, brought a room full of survivors and their families to tears.

The girls created the video after losing friends in the Grenfell Tower fire

The video features tributes to school friends including Firdaws Hashim, 12.

The song is a reworking of Professor Green and Emeli Sande track Read All about It with a new arrangement and lyrics.

The lyrics include the lines: “You’re always in my thoughts and you’re always in my mind. I wish you were still here, why did you have to die?”

Yousra said: “It made me feel proud to get my opinion out there. The song and the video are from a child’s perspective. It’s to show what we feel, because it doesn’t feel like anyone has really thought about what the children affected by Grenfell have gone through.”

The video has been created as part of the Grenfell Voices project, run by production company SE1 Productions, who are giving those directly affected by the disaster an artistic outlet for their experiences.

Johana said: “I wrote one line, and all the feelings just flowed out. Now we want to write more songs and we’re going to make ourselves heard.”

Yousra, who lived in Grenfell Walk, has been living with her family in a hotel since the fire. “Every time they say we’re getting a new home, it gets pushed back another month, and another month,” she said.

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