6 stories for 3 years of war

Portraits of six children affected by the war in Yemen

Yemen: Six years of war, six stories of children

12 Apr 2021 Yemen

Yemen: Six years of war, six stories of children

Violence and bloodshed remains an almost daily occurrence for children in Yemen. Over the past three years, almost one in four casualties in the conflict were children.

It’s a stark reminder that children and families are paying the heaviest price for this brutal war through no fault of their own.

WE STAND SIDE BY SIDE WITH CHILDREN IN THE WORLD'S 
TOUGHEST PLACES.

After six years of war, Save the Children employee and photographer Anna Pantelia, captures the stories of loss and sadness, but also children’s resilience and determination to rebuild their lives after six years of war in Yemen. Accompanying each portrait is a story of losing loved ones, physical injuries from explosives and having to flee their homes because of the fighting. here are the stories of six children in their own words.

Falak*, 16

Falak*

Anna Pantelia / Save the Children

"When I was in the 9th grade, I had to stop going to school due financial problems

"I thought that there is no hope for me. I didn’t have any dreams when I was young because I was feeling that I was in such a bad situation... I used to come to Taiz city to get food assistance from some organisations.

"I met someone from Save the Children and they informed me about the vocational trainings they offer to children [adolescents] like me. I was registered for these trainings and I chose to get trained in sewing.

"I was very happy… This training that I got from Save the Children is not just about sewing. They helped us understand the importance of keeping our dignity, being independent, being resilient and gave us guidance on how protect ourselves.

"I hope one day Yemen will be safe for everyone and I hope I will continue being independent so my family will not have to depend on anyone."

Musa*, 15

 

Musa*

Anna Pantelia/ Save the Children

"I was going to school but when the war started six years ago my family and I had to flee from Taiz. One day while I was in the market I heard clashes. I was going back home when a shell hit the neighbourhood. I fell on the ground unconscious. When I opened my eyes I was covered in blood. I was only 10... Shrapnel from the shell pierced my whole body and head.

"I stayed out of education for four years. Once the armed people left our neighbourhood in Taiz we decided to come back. Then I was able again to continue my education."

Sadam*, 14

 

Sadam*

Anna Pantelia / Save the Children

"Before the war, I had a good life; we had our own house and I was going to school, I was playing with my friends, I was feeling safe. I used to play football. I enjoyed playing football the most.

"When the war started, my life was not the same. One day, I an airstrike hit the area where we were. My dad died instantly and I was injured in the leg. I had an operation but my leg was broken in four different places so after the operation I couldn’t walk properly, I had to be held by someone.

"Now I am not going to school because I recently had another operation in my leg and I am still recovering. I am really looking forward to going back to school when my leg is better.

"When I grow up, I want to become a doctor so I can help people who are sick and injured. I hope Yemen will become as it was before the war so I can go back to Al-Mokha."

Omar*, 8

 

Omar*

Anna Pantelia / Save the Children

"We were at school when we heard explosions. We ran inside the school and when they finished we went out again to play. One of my friends got injured in one of the explosions.

"I was on my way home with a friend and I wanted to go to find my brother when the artillery shell hit us.

"I was paralyzed for a moment. Then someone on a motorbike picked me up and took me to the hospital;

"I want toys to be able to play but I don’t want any shelling."

Hosam*, 16

 

Hosam*

Anna Pantelia / Save the Children

"We had dreams to have a nice house and live there. We had friends and toys to play with. I was hoping to become a doctor one day and my brother hoped to become an architect.

"When the war started we had to flee our house due to the bombings. We saw three houses in our neighbourhood getting bombed on the same day. Our school was also bombed. Neither me or my brother went to school after this. Then we fled.

"I wasn’t thinking of continuing education but after Save the Children started to engage with us, I decided to continue. They helped me to register in public school. I started to study about five months ago. I struggle with writing but I am getting better. Reading is easier for me."

Bushra*, 15

 

Bushra*

Anna Pantelia / Save the Children

"Before the war I had a normal life. I went to school in my wheelchair. I had friends coming over and we used to chat, draw and sing in my room. I felt safe.

"After the war started I got displaced twice. It was three years ago when I was at school in Hodeida and an airstrike hit the neighbourhood of my school. Everyone was very scared and the school got damaged.

"We couldn’t go back to school for a week after that and even then there were more and more attacks in schools, so all schools in the area stopped operating. I started feeling very afraid."

Save the Children has been working in Yemen since 1963. We are the largest aid organisation operating in Yemen, and have been responding to the current crisis since 2015. 

We work in 11 regions, implementing health, nutrition, child protection, food security and livelihoods, education and water and sanitation interventions. Read more about our work in Yemen and how you can support.

Related Blogs

Cropped CH11013477 for web The road at Joda border point in South Sudan

Cropped CH11013477 for SCI web, visit CH11013477 for original. More than 600,000 people – both refugees and returnees – have crossed the border into South Sudan since violence escalated in Sudan last April. Every day about 1,000 people are arriving in a region already facing a severe hunger crisis, and the numbers continue to rise as the hostilities in Sudan show no sign of abating. Most people arrive with nothing, having lost their homes and livelihoods. Some children have reported seeing loved ones, including their parents, killed on route. The majority have arrived at the border crossing of Joda in Upper Nile State by foot or on donkey carts, from where up to 200 people at a time are crammed into trucks with standing room only. They are taken to two overcrowded transit centres in nearby Renk, a two-hour journey on dirt tracks in temperatures of up to 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit) as South Sudan battles its worst heatwave in four years. They usually spend about two weeks in the centres, where food and water are scarce, healthcare is limited, and many sleep outside in makeshift shelters. From there 500 people at a time are packed onto barges for a two-day journey along the Nile to head to other destinations in South Sudan or packed into trucks headed for a refugee camp in Maban. Most of these families have been displaced before. Many fled to Sudan from South Sudan in 2013 when widespread intercommunal violence erupted just two years after the country celebrated its independence as the world’s newest nation. Despite a peace deal in South Sudan in 2018, the country is still facing one of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises, plagued by continuing violence, repeated climate disasters, widespread hunger, mass displacement and now soaring prices. Even before the Sudan war, about 9 million people – about 75% of the population ¬– including nearly 5 million children were in need of humanitarian assistance. Since the escalation of violence in Sudan, Save the Children has expanded its operations in Renk to assist families. Staff members are on location from the border to the boats to keep children and families safe, help them on and off the trucks, see to their immediate needs and emotional welfare, as well as reunite unaccompanied children with their families. Save the Children has worked in South Sudan since 1991. The child rights organisation provides children with access to education, healthcare and nutritional support, and families with food security and livelihoods assistance. In 2023, the organisation’s programmes reached over XX million children and this year Save the Children hopes to reach XX million people in South Sudan.

04 Nov 2024

Sudan

STAFF ACCOUNT: “I sent my children away from El Fasher to save their lives.”

Save the Children worker Amar Osman* shares his account from the besieged city of El Fasher in Sudan as violence continues across the country.
READ MORE
Gabriel Elisha, Water and Sanitation Hygiene (WASH) officer, DRC

Gabriel Elisha, Water and Sanitation Hygiene (WASH) officer, DRC who is responding to the mpox crisis.

29 Oct 2024

Democratic Congo

Staff Account: On the frontlines of the DRC’s Mpox crisis

The mpox epidemic in the DRC is unfolding in a country already plagued by conflict, hunger and disease. Children are nearly four times more likely to die from mpox than adults, making them particularly vulnerable to this outbreak. Read the blog to learn more about the situation, our response, and how you can help.
READ MORE
Sarah, 11, with her Save the Children child protection officer, Daisy

Sarah, 11, was displaced from her home in January 2022 when cyclone Ana forced the Shira River to burst its bank, flooding her home and all of the surrounding land. Sarah and her family were forced to spend a night seeking refuge in a tree until her older brother came and resuced them all in a canoe, a hollowed out tree trunk to take them to safety. Safety was over the river and the surrounding land, which was dangerous in itself due to crocodiles and other animals, and the travel through the pitch dark. They left with nothing but the clothes on their back and settled in a refugee camp that is support by a number of charities, including Save the Children. Sarah was given psycho-social support from Save the Children where she did group therapy and received one to one support from our protection officer. She is now coping better and has managed to go back to school. While her and her family travel back to the flooded land to grow crops, the family cannot move back as their home is now completely destroyed. Thoko Chikondi / Save the Children

22 Oct 2024

Global

It is time for Governments to Redefine Child Protection and Celebrate their Diverse Workforce

Social workers play a crucial role in child protection, often overlooked by the public. This blog emphasizes the positive impact of social workers who support families and advocate for children's welfare globally and calls for investment in preventative and responsive child protection services to ensure every child thrives ahead of the Ministerial Conference to End Violence Against Children. 
READ MORE