Daniel Wolfram
In Yemen, school has taken a backseat for the children as they struggle to survive during this ongoing crisis.
As reported here by Dagens.com, the Houthis have gained ground in Yemen during their war with the Yemeni government that is backed by Saudi Arabia.
The reason why the Houthis have so much momentum is in part that President Donald Trump and the US government agreed to a ceasefire with them and have been reluctant to assist the Saudis in their struggle against the rebels in Yemen.
On the other side of that coin, the ramifications of the ongoing fighting in Yemen are becoming insurmountable.
Children forced to work to make ends meet
Humanitarian organizations estimate that more than 130,000 people in Yemen have been displaced because of the recent fighting in their home country.
Furthermore, children are forced to work and give up their school dreams so they can help their families make money and survive during this humanitarian crisis.
A Guardian report outlines how a 13-year-old child from Yemen had been attending school for the last two weeks surrounded by heavy gunfire and explosions. After a while, the situation had become so untenable that the child had to stop coming to school, relocate to a displacement camp, and find work outside of the camp.
“Studying is important, but not in a situation like this where we are struggling to get enough food, water, and other necessities,” the child said to The Guardian. “For now, I will keep working until the war ends.”
Schools in Yemen struggling to stay afloat
While life is upended for those who have been driven from their homes, the ones who are staying put are also facing difficulties.
There are more than three million children whose school lives have been disrupted by the escalation in fighting, and the schools are struggling to operate in a war zone.
Abdulwasea Abdu, a principal at a school in Taiz, told a story about how he had tried to keep the school open to give the children a sense of “normality” during this troubling time. That was until a missile flew down right next to them.
“On the day the missile struck, we witnessed severe panic among them, with crying and screaming due to the explosions. Some children showed psychological trauma as a result of the intensity of the blasts,” Abdu told The Guardian.
Impossible to keep schools open
Abdu also says that it is impossible to keep his school open because there is fighting from all sides in Yemen at the moment.
And while school is closed, it is also becoming increasingly hard for the people in Yemen to survive as jobs dry up, prices rise, and roads close.
“It is civilians who bear the cost of military escalation, and it seems that we in Taiz are paying a particularly heavy price, as commodities no longer reach us easily,” said Essam Nabil, a carpenter in the city.
