{"id":113347,"date":"2018-06-25T12:00:42","date_gmt":"2018-06-25T11:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=113347"},"modified":"2018-06-25T16:10:17","modified_gmt":"2018-06-25T15:10:17","slug":"yemen-she-named-her-child-enough","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2018\/06\/yemen-she-named-her-child-enough\/","title":{"rendered":"Yemen: She Named Her Child \u201cEnough\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Rare Look at Yemen\u2019s War, Where Children Starve and Hospitals Are on Life-Support<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Kafaya, whose name means \u201cenough,\u201d sits in the arms of her mother on May 7, 2018, in Bani Mansur, Yemen.
Photo: Alex Potter for The Intercept<\/p><\/div>\n

21 Jun 2018 – <\/em>The changes that three years of war have wrought on Sanaa are subtle and, at first, easily overlooked. The northern Yemeni city isn\u2019t destroyed, but rubble from airstrikes remains in certain neighborhoods. People\u2019s clothes aren\u2019t in tatters, but men these days prefer colored robes instead of the traditional white, so they don\u2019t have to launder them as often. All of the different types of Yemeni bread, from long, thin roti to flat rashoosh, are smaller, and food vendors in the market portion out their goods exactly in plastic bags, rather than throwing in some extra for good measure. More people walk in the streets, instead of spending\u00a0a few\u00a0riyals on a bus, or more on a taxi. At home, women make bread in wood stoves, rather than gas ovens, since the price of gas is over\u00a010 times what it was before the war.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Light shines on goods in a convenience store in Sanaa.<\/p><\/div>\n

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A mural depicting airstrikes in the Old City in Sanaa.
Photos: Alex Potter for The Intercept<\/p><\/div>\n

The front-line\u00a0battles are far from Sanaa, but the\u00a0entire north\u00a0is suffering the consequences of a blockade by the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthi forces that have controlled the region since 2014. No civilian flights are allowed from the Sanaa airport, and international aid is often stopped and delayed. In addition to the skyrocketing price of goods, the Yemeni riyal has dropped from 250 to 450 on the dollar. The resulting economic crisis from the loss of jobs and trade has left 80 percent of the population in need of humanitarian aid, most often in the form of financial support and food. The markets are full, but no one is buying. Many Yemeni families go hungry, subsisting on only one meal a day, and while there is no outright famine, familiar faces, once full of life, are now hollow and drawn with worry.<\/p>\n

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Images of Yemenis killed in the 2015 battle against the Houthis are painted on the walls of main streets in Aden, Yemen. Photo: Alex Potter for The Intercept<\/p><\/div>\n

Since March 2015, the Iran-allied Houthis and other factions in Yemen have been entwined in a civil and international war\u00a0with Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners, who are fighting to restore the government that the Houthis overthrew. Coalition airstrikes \u2014 supported by refueling, munitions, and intelligence from the U.S. military<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 have pummeled not only Houthi military positions, but also homes, schools, business, and essential infrastructure in an attempt to bring Yemen to its knees. The strikes have often been indiscriminate<\/a>, and Saudi Arabia has been accused by Human Rights Watch of war crimes. Last week, the port city of\u00a0Hodeidah came under attack by\u00a0pro-government\u00a0forces backed by coalition partner the\u00a0United Arab Emirates<\/a>, threatening to plunge the country deeper into humanitarian crisis. At least 10,000\u00a0civilians\u00a0have been killed<\/a> during the war,\u00a0although many deaths go unreported, and the true number is likely much higher.<\/p>\n

Ordinary Yemenis have suffered in many other quieter ways. Those\u00a0with chronic illnesses are dying in droves. With limited access to dialysis, chemotherapy, diabetes medications,\u00a0and supplemental feeding for malnourished children, and almost no possibility of\u00a0leaving, poorer families are simply giving themselves up to fate.<\/p>\n

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Yemeni families and nurses walk through the malnutrition wing at Sabaeen Hospital in Sanaa on May 4, 2018. Most hospitals in the north are functioning at a minimal levels, constantly short on supplies, while their staff have remained unpaid for months. Photo: Alex Potter for The Intercept<\/p><\/div>\n

Stunted\u00a0by War<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sabaeen Hospital, on a main road near\u00a0a mosque in Sanaa, is the final stop for severe cases of malnutrition in children. Most families come here from rural areas where the\u00a0closest basic health facility may be over two hours away. Those who can afford to travel to Sabaeen bring little with them \u2014 only a few changes of clothes and the hope that their infant or toddler will survive.<\/p>\n

Ali Qasim al-Ajil held his daughter Kawthar, a pale and lethargic 6-month-old, dressed in layers of bright clothing to keep her warm. The family is from Bani Hushaish, a two-hour drive from Sanaa.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt started with cholera, right after she was born,\u201d al-Ajil said. \u201cSince then, she hasn\u2019t been able to nurse; her mother also hasn\u2019t had enough to eat, so she didn\u2019t give any milk. We\u2019re all farmers in our area.\u00a0We can barely afford flour and gas. No one has work since the war started. Life is so expensive.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the next room, 9-month-old Bushra cried on the bed next to her mother. Her limbs\u00a0were thin and her ribs prominent, but her belly\u00a0was swollen, a sign of electrolyte imbalance. Thin blue veins\u00a0were visible beneath her pale skin. Like Kawthar, she couldn\u2019t breastfeed. She had been in the hospital for a month, but\u00a0had made little progress, growing from 6.6 pounds to 8.1.<\/p>\n

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Ahmad Ghalib, 6, and his mother, at Sabaeen Hospital.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Ali Qasim al-Ajil holds his malnourished 6-month-old daughter, Kawthar.
Photos: Alex Potter for The Intercept<\/p><\/div>\n

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Nine-month-old Bushra lies on a bed, belly bloated from electrolyte imbalance and malnutrition. Photo: Alex Potter for The Intercept<\/p><\/div>\n

Six-year-old Ahmad Ghalib stood next to his mother, mouth agape and eyes wandering, knees knocking together. Ahmad is from a small village in Amran, north of the capital, and his mother claimed\u00a0that doctors said his mental handicap\u00a0was due to chronic malnutrition.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe didn\u2019t eat well from the day he was born, but for the last three years, it\u2019s been very bad. We couldn\u2019t afford to vaccinate him. \u2026 He\u2019s been here for\u00a020 days, but there\u2019s no point in staying. We\u2019re going home tomorrow,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

UNICEF estimates that nearly 400,000 children in Yemen suffer from severe acute malnutrition and nearly\u00a02 million are chronically malnourished, a condition that causes stunting and physiological and psychosocial delay. The children who do survive will likely feel the health impacts of those delays for the rest of their lives.<\/p>\n

At a center supported by the World Health Organization in Bani Mansur, a village outside Sanaa, a 1-year-old Yemeni girl with beautiful eyes and long lashes sat listlessly in her mother\u2019s arms, a feeding tube taped to her cheek.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen she was born, I was so tired,\u201d said the mother. \u201cThat\u2019s why I named her Kafaya \u2014 it means \u2018enough.\u2019 I have\u00a012 children; I\u2019ve had enough, and we are all exhausted from the conflict. We have had enough of this war.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Dr. Majed al-Qadasy at Jumhuri Hospital in Sanaa on May 4, 2018. Al-Qadasy is responsible for the dialysis program at the hospital. Photo: Alex Potter for The Intercept<\/p><\/div>\n

Hospitals\u00a0on Life-Support<\/strong><\/p>\n

At Jumhuri Hospital in Sanaa, the main referral center for patients with kidney failure, Dr. Majed al-Qadasy faces a failing dialysis situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were supposed to close just last week; we were completely out of supplies,\u201d al-Qadasy said. \u201c[The International Committee of the Red Cross] helped us out so we could stay open. Our patient quota is supposed to be\u00a070 patients per day; we\u2019re now treating over 100 on the weekdays. But the big problem is our staff has no salaries.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re working double time and haven\u2019t had any real pay for years now,\u201d he continued. \u201cOur doors are always open to those who need help, but we don\u2019t know how much longer we can keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n

Upstairs in the recovery wing, al-Qadasy spoke with Ahmad Mohammad Morshid. The 33-year-old farmer and qat seller from a rural village in Dhamar waited months to get dialysis when his kidney failure started \u2014 he simply couldn\u2019t afford the treatment. When he arrived at the hospital, emaciated and belly swollen, he was nearly dead. After a single treatment, he had the strength to sit up in bed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re poor people. I\u2019m just a farmer and can barely afford to feed my four kids \u2014 why should I worry about myself?\u201d he said. \u201cMy family had to take out a loan just to get me here, now I\u2019m supposed to stay here for treatment?\u201d<\/p>\n

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Ahmad Mohammad Morshid, who recently underwent his first round of dialysis for kidney failure, recovers in his bed on May 4, 2018, at Jumhuri Hospital. Photos: Alex Potter for The Intercept<\/p><\/div>\n

Some Yemenis who have managed to maintain their wealth support local organizations like Dar al-Shafaqa, or \u201cHouse of Compassion,\u201d which gives chronically ill Yemenis from rural areas a dignified place to live during their treatment. The unassuming building on a side street in Sanaa houses over 100 Yemenis with cancer and kidney failure.<\/p>\n

Dr. Waleed Mohammad, the head of the nongovernmental organization,\u00a0said that in his experience, \u201cmuch of Yemen\u2019s humanitarian crisis plays out privately. I\u2019ve seen couples get divorced because the man feels ashamed he can\u2019t take care of his wife, he can\u2019t even feed himself. With those who can\u2019t afford treatment or travel, even some from this center, they give up. They return home to die, rather than burden their families with the cost of therapy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two young boys, Abdo and Bashir, kicked a ball around the yard, wearing hats to cover their lack of hair from chemotherapy. An elderly man from Mahwit with kidney failure wandered the halls, talking to other boarders. Upstairs in the women\u2019s wing, three separate rooms\u00a0were full of women who\u00a0have cancer; they were wrapped in heavy blankets, some silent, some moaning, all accompanied by a mother, daughter, or aunt tasked with looking over them until they return home, either recovered or to die.<\/p>\n

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Yemeni nurses tend to kidney failure patients on dialysis in Hajjah, Yemen.
Photo: Alex Potter for The Intercept<\/p><\/div>\n

Over winding mountain roads three hours northwest of Sanaa, Sultan Masood, a 28-year-old nurse, runs the dialysis center at Jumhuri Hospital in Hajjah City. Before the war, he said, his hospital treated 250 regular patients. Last year, because other centers in the region have been destroyed,\u00a0they\u00a0saw 900.<\/p>\n

Masood believes the compounding factors of war create more chronic illness. \u201cThe airstrikes are stressing out people\u2019s systems, cholera and diphtheria are just adding to it,\u201d he said. \u201cEight of our regular clients died last year. We called them to ask why they\u2019re not coming any more, and they said they can\u2019t do it anymore. They just gave up on life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Officials and humanitarians are at a loss as to how to keep their hospitals running. Everyone in the health system dreads cholera season, which accompanies\u00a0the arrival of spring rains. According to Masood, Jumhuri Hospital treated 8,000 cases last year in a six-month window, using a school for treatment when their facility was overrun.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis hospital is operating at 130 percent capacity; as you can see, there are beds even in the hallway,\u201d said Sally Thomas, project coordinator for Doctors Without Borders, which has a team working at Jumhuri. \u201cWe support the hospital in emergency and trauma, trying to improve the quality of care, but things are extremely difficult. Follow-up care with patients is nearly impossible because many poor families have no way to communicate or money to get back here.\u201d<\/p>\n

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A Yemeni boy walks through the sand back to his tent in Mishqafa Camp on April 23, 2018. Most of the families in the camp come from impoverished areas near the front line, but the camp is also destitute.
Photo: Alex Potter for The Intercept<\/p><\/div>\n

Forced to Flee<\/strong><\/p>\n

The north has received the brunt of coalition airstrikes and the blockade, but the humanitarian situation is dire across the country. Thousands of Yemenis have fled south from front line areas in Hodeidah and Taiz, where Houthis battle various local factions supported by the coalition. Many of them have ended up outside desert villages in Lahij, just north of Aden. While some families have managed to move in with relatives, poorer families and those from the darker-skinned muhamasheen class, who often face discrimination, have taken refuge in makeshift settlements with little support from international NGOs.<\/p>\n

In Mishqafa camp, the local sheikh responsible for the area\u00a0said that 265 people live in horrendous conditions: There is no running water or electricity, no school or health care facility. Tents are haphazardly tossed together with tarps, rope, brush, and branches, with clay stoves made by hand just that morning baking out in the sun. Sheikh Zaky claimed the camp is supported with funds from UNICEF, the U.N. humanitarian agency, and the World Food Programme, but if those international aid groups are present, their support isn\u2019t visible.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe [local villagers] are trying to help these people. They are our neighbors. So we\u2019re trying to arrange more distributions through a local NGO,\u201d said Zaky.<\/p>\n

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Yemeni women from the Warazan area of Taiz sit in a tent to escape the sun on April 23, 2018, in Mishqafa camp. Photo: Alex Potter for The Intercept<\/p><\/div>\n

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Yemeni men stand in line waiting for a weekly food distribution in Fayoush.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Makeshift tents held together with rope and protected by sticks bake under the sun in Mishqafa camp. Photos: Alex Potter for The Intercept<\/p><\/div>\n

Dozens of women who had fled from Warazan, a village near Taiz and the site of an active front line, crowded into a tent to share their stories. Most had been in the derelict camp for two years, having escaped by bus in the middle of the night to\u00a0flee the fighting.<\/p>\n

An elderly woman in a blue headscarf named Kharifa spoke up. \u201cWe ran away from the mortars. Our houses were destroyed, yes, but also because we had nothing!\u201d she said. \u201cOur wells and markets were destroyed; there was no way to get across the front line to buy food. We hear there is still fighting there, so we won\u2019t go back, even if we have to live like this in the desert.\u201d<\/p>\n

Men in the makeshift camps attempt to get work in neighboring villages, and many go each week to a food distribution organized by the World Food Programme to get flour, pulses, oil, gas, and rice for their families. The majority of the families were poor to begin with: laborers, fishers, or street sweepers. None of them see returning home as an option while fighting goes on in their villages.<\/p>\n

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Supporters of the Houthis gather for prayer on April 28, 2018, ahead of the funeral of Saleh al-Samad, a Houthi political leader who was killed in an airstrike. Photo: Alex Potter for The Intercept<\/p><\/div>\n

A Strike\u00a0in Sanaa<\/strong><\/p>\n

On April 28 in Sanaa, thousands of Houthi supporters gathered for the funeral of Saleh al-Sammad, the head of their political council, who had recently been killed in an airstrike. Men gathered to pray and protest, filling the width of 70th Street and the courtyard of \u201cthe People\u2019s Mosque\u201d (once \u201cSaleh Mosque\u201d after the former president, but renamed after he changed sides in the war and was killed for his betrayal<\/a>). Just as the speeches finished and prayer was set to begin, jets flew overhead, and an airstrike hit nearby, followed by another. The bomb hit nothing of consequence, so it had to be a warning \u2014 a reminder that the coalition was always watching the city. Unaffected, the protesters did not run. Rather, they stood and chanted their now well-worn, infamous \u201cDeath to America\u201d slogan. One elderly man grabbed another and said, \u201cWe are Yemenis! We don\u2019t run away from bombs, we run toward them!\u201d<\/p>\n

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Supporters of the Houthis at the funeral for Saleh al-Samad.
Photo: Alex Potter for The Intercept<\/p><\/div>\n

Yemenis are resilient, with a strong social structure where neighbor supports neighbor, and friend supports friend. Years of airstrikes, front-line fighting, displacement, and shortages have not ended the war, as the Saudi-led coalition assumed they would. But despite their defiance, the conflict has brought Yemen to a point where its citizens can\u2019t even obtain basic needs, and the nation is weary.<\/p>\n

__________________________________________________<\/p>\n

This story was supported by Women Photograph and the Pulitzer Center\u00a0on Crisis Reporting.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/em>Alex Potter<\/a> – alexkaypotter@\u200bgmail.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

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Go to Original \u2013 theintercept.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

21 Jun 2018 – A Rare Look at Yemen\u2019s War, Where Children Starve and Hospitals Are on Life-Support – Photojournalist Alex Potter chronicles the suffering of Yemenis after three years of fighting and near famine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":113348,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-113347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle-east-north-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113347","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113347"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113347\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/113348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}