Human Rights | World Politics | Armed Conflict | Aid Campaigns
Category: Fundraising for Children of War
A little goes a long way. The humanitarian organizations I write about in this section are run by local volunteers who are living respectively in the war-torn countries of Yemen, Syria and Iraq. By donating to one these charities, 100% of your donation will reach the families and children depending on our humanity and generosity. Please take a moment to donate what you can in this time of global humanitarian crises. Thank you.
Question: Describe your background in Yemen. For example, do you have family there? Where are you from? What were you doing before the war began? How old are you?
Answer: I am Fatik Abdullah al-Rodaini, a Yemeni Journalist and humanitarian worker based in Yemen’s capital of Sana’a. I am a 40-year father of six kids and a husband to a great wife that helps me on all my projects. I have a whole family in Sanaa, a mother, sisters and brothers as well. I have a BA degree in mass media from the mass media faculty, Sanaa University.
I am the founder and CEO of Yemen organization for Humanitarian Relief and Development (MONA Relief). The organization was established in May 2015 as a Sanaa-based Non-governmental organization.
Before working as a humanitarian, I worked as a translator at the office of President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi during 2014-2014. Prior to this job, I worked as the editor of the news website of late president Ali Abdullah Saleh at Yemen’s News Agency Saba during 2007-2012. I started to work with Saba in 1996.
Question: How did you begin your relief efforts?
Fatik: I started working as a humanitarian after the Saudi-led coalition launched a bombing campaign in Yemen in March 2015. I could not stay home or watching while my country was in need of all of us. When the humanitarian situation started to deteriorate because of ongoing war and blockade, I decided to do something to help affected people. My humanitarian work has been focused on saving lives of IDPs and most vulnerable people in Amanat Al-Asimah “Sanaa the capital”, Sanaa the governorate, Amran, Saada, Hodeida, Marib, Dhamar, Mahwit and Hajjah.
Question: What do you do each day and week as part of MonaRelief? Where in Yemen do you work?
Fatik: I am the CEO of MonaRelief and have two main tasks, the office task is focused on daily and weekly communications with donors, international and local aid agencies and people that come to my office and ask for help. I also attend meetings of the UN and international organizations to discuss the situation and coordinate activities in Yemen. Moreover, I network with local organizations and support individual aid initiatives.
The field task: I am the leader of my field crews. I visit cities and areas to distribute and supervise the delivery of aid to the needy people. I also assess where, how, why and to whom aid must be given, besides supervising the performance of the field crews in order to guarantee everything is done in a good way.
Question: What is your mission with MonaRelief? What other organizations do you work with?
Fatik: My mission to help alleviate the humanitarian crisis and contribute to efforts aimed at serving my people.
Question: Is there a story from your work that stays with you? Why?
Fatik: Yes. The story of a mother and her eight blind sons and daughter who fled the unabated battles between the Saudi-backed forces and Houthi-Saleh forces in the Nihem district in the governorate of Sanaa. This mother and her blind kids fled to the capital where they had no supporter until our organization visited and started to help them. They traveled at night from a mountain to another until they arrived in the capital. The mother is the only supporter of her kids. The war was the worst nightmare to them. It destroyed their farm which they used to live on and the house they used to live in. The father is suffering from a mental illness. She is a great woman. She did not give up.
Question: How has the blockade affected your work? Are the goods that make it through actually helping people living in Yemen?
Fatik: The blockade has affected my work largely. It has been preventing my organization from receiving aid cargoes “mostly food, clothes and medicines” and financial aid sent by foreign donors. We have been unable to receive financial aid through our bank accounts because Yemen was sanctioned and money transfers into it suspended.
Question: What do you want people outside of Yemen to know about life on the ground there? What is the international community getting wrong about Yemen?
Fatik: In a few words, foreigners need to know that Yemen is facing the world’s largest humanitarian crisis and that all basic services are on the brink of total collapse. People in Yemen are dying from hunger and disease outbreaks while people outside Yemen either do not know about us or are just watching.
Question: What can or should other countries do to help?
Fatik: Other countries must do their best to end the war here. This is the first thing every one should think about. Then other countries should mobilize efforts to contain the humanitarian catastrophe and disease outbreaks. Well, media in foreign countries should write more about Yemen professionally.
Question: You work in very difficult situations and with topics that are difficult, what keeps you motivated?
Fatik: My country and people need me. I want to keep the smile on children’s faces. I want to save lives of those who have lost their supporters and hope. I can do something for the needy people and this is what keeps me motivated.
Question: Where do you find hope? What does hope mean to you?
Fatik: I find hope in providing more support to those who need it. At the moment, hope is everything.
Watch rare films and TV series in our Documentaries section.
Watch Daily News at Alistair Reign Channel on YouTube.
Before the Saudi-led coalition war on Yemen in March 2015, the country was already a protracted crisis characterized by widespread poverty, conflict, poor governance and weak rule of law.
Today, and after almost 27 months of the war on Yemen, the economy is near collapse, public and private services have all but disappeared, and Yemenis have lost most of their livelihoods and depleted most of their saving.
The war in Yemen has devastated the lives of millions of people in all different sectors and a result of the war health sector was affected badly as the other sectors in the country. According to the UN statistics regarding the health sector there is nearly half of all health facilities are non-functional – An estimated 14.8 million people lack access to basic healthcare, including 8.8 million living in severely under-served areas. Medicine and medical supplies and materials are in chronically short supply.
Not only that but also infectious diseases started appearing everywhere in the country, We have noticed lately that cholera epidemic starting spreading very fast in the country, deteriorating the lives of millions of Yemenis, who started suffering due to the lack of health services in the their country.
Cholera outbreak for first time was confirmed in Yemen in October 2016 in the capital Sana’a but in May 2017 new cases were being diagnosed at a rate three times higher than the initial estimates.
The Cholera outbreak was spreading, with almost one person an hour dying from the water-borne infection according to World Health Organization (WHO) – and a quarter of the dead so far are children along with 5000 new diagnoses a day.
Now the number of acute watery diarrhea (AWD) suspected cholera cases has increased dramatically, and the Cholera outbreak expanded to 22 out of 23 governorates.
According to Yemen Health Ministry’s report about the cholera situation in Yemen from April 27 to July 6, 2017, the total number of suspected cholera cases is 291,554, and half of the sick are children.
The number of deaths is 1678 that have been reported in 95.6% (22 / 23) of Yemen governorates and 86.5% (288/333) of the districts.
According to WHO the total number of confirmed cases of cholera is 391. The four most affected governorates in Yemen are Amanat al-Asimah, Hodeidah, Hajjeh and Amran with 47.4% of reported cases.
The situation is extremely serious as the epidemic threatens almost all Yemeni people if the international community continues to ignore that Yemen is the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
The Colour of War is happy to announce that our recent fundraising campaign for children in Yemen has successfully reached its goal – with only one day remaining to add your donation.
We are especially grateful to our donor Suzy K. from Sweden for her generous gift of $450 CDN dollars.
“I wish to thank those who donated on behalf of the Yemeni children who will benefit immediately from your generous donations,” Leah Ferguson, Director of Fundraising, Colour of War Campaigns.
The Muslim holiday Ramadan has begun, and ends on July 6th this year, also begins a time of community and family; it is the custom for Muslims to invite their neighbours and friends to share their evening meal called Iftar.
I was curious to learn more about the traditions and festivals celebrated during this special month, and don’t shoot, but seems to me a lot like the month of December when families celebrate Christmas. For those of us who are parents, we don’t even have to believe in God to understand that December is a magical month for children.
Children in war-torn countries are no different, and again they are paying the price of war. Unless local humanitarian’s bring food and gifts to the families in Sana’a, Yemen, hundreds, even thousands of children are waking up every morning to no presents, no treats and no dinner, and we are talking about children.
Please visit our GoFundMe page to donate to local Yemeni charities, who will quickly turn your donations into care packages, that will be delivered by their volunteers to the dozens of families suffering in Yemen.
Along with the celebrations, Ramadan is also a time when Muslims try to reconnect with the Qur’an, and recite special Tarawih prayers in congregation. Every person, including woman and child partake of the month-long festivities and traditions, which includes a daily fast; naturally children, infirm, mentally ill, pregnant and elderly people do not have to fast.
A street vendor plugs in decorations for Ramadan in Amman, Jordan. (Photo: Mohammad Hannon/ AP).
Fasting is one of the Muslim traditions followed throughout the month of Ramadan. The belief being that desires are curbed, and one can gain understanding of how those who are less privileged may feel. The fast is also considered to increase one’s patience, closeness to God, and generosity towards others.
It is Islamic custom to celebrate Eid with a small sweet breakfast, and to give charity before Eid prayers in congregation. Many Muslims celebrate by giving gifts, wearing new clothes, and visiting friends and family.
A family after morning prayers during an Eid celebration in Burgess Park, south London. (Photo: Dan Kitwood/ Getty Images).
Hajja:
Gathering in the eldest family member’s house
On the eve of Eid, the members of families in Hajja gather at the house of the eldest family member to spend the night there. They have breakfast together in the early morning and then go out together in large numbers—each showing off the size of their family. They have lunch, chew qat, and stay the following night at the same house.
Yemeni Eid Traditions
Sana’a:
Traditional dancing
The people in Sana’a governorate gather in various open areas to perform the Eid prayer and wish each other “Eid Mubarak,” meaning “happy Eid.” Consequently, tribesmen gather in public spaces, usually squares, to perform traditional dances, involving Jambyas and drums. Each dancer does his best to perform well, hoping to be praised by the audience.
Socotra:
Where noses meet
Shaking hands and giving nose kisses when greeting others is a Socotran tradition during Eid.
Shabwa:
Poetic competition
One thing that Shabwa is known for during Eid is its poetry competitions. Groups of men gather in circles outdoors, rather than inside their houses, and start improvising poems. Each group attempts to outperform the other.
Lahj:
Henna
On the eve of Eid, families prepare henna to paint intricate designs on the hands and feet of both girls and boys. Early the next morning, children wash the henna off, enjoying artistic patterns and shapes on their skin for at least another week.
Marib:
Celebrating with the ill and disabled
Following the morning Eid prayer, people go to have breakfast with a sick or persons with a disability. They hope to thereby increase the joyful experience of Eid for those whose lives are hardened by disadvantages.
Hodeida:
Camel jumping
Jumping over camels is a popular activity in Hodeida that dates back to Yemen’s distant past. The competition starts with a man jumping over one camel, with the number of camels increasing all the way up to five. The youth compete to show their skill and the winner is treated like a hero—Al-Zaraniq tribe is renown for its particularly skillful competitors. Camel jumping acts as entertainment during joyful and festive events like weddings and Eid.
A street vendor plugs in decorations for Ramadan in Amman, Jordan.( Photo: Mohammad Hannon/ AP).
Muslims worldwide: Eid al-Fitr
The festival of breaking of the fast, which marks the end of Ramadan. According to tradition the angels call it the day of prize-giving because all those who fasted are rewarded by God on this day, and so it is common to hear Muslims greet each other with Eid Mubarak (Happy Eid). It falls on the first day of the new Islamic month of Shawwal and it is forbidden to fast on this day.
Please visit our GoFundMe page to donate to local Yemeni charities, who will quickly turn your donations into care packages, food and other lifesaving essentials.
These organizations and campaigns provide a range of aid: immediate relief with clothes, food and shelter; schools and training programs; rescue efforts inside Syria for after an attack and emotional support for kids; one group is even finding homes in Europe for refugees fleeing war. I am not personally endorsing the organisations in this article, I have simply scoured the internet and gathered a list of charities, government and non-government organizations for your consideration.
The mission of Small Projects Istanbulis to facilitate access to formal education for Syrian refugees through its scholarship fund and to provide supplemental education that will assist students and families to succeed in Turkey and beyond, paving the way for better opportunities in the future. It also coordinates a craft collective for Syrian women to provide livelihood support.
Karam strives to direct 100% percent of your donations to impacting Syrian lives. We promise transparency and accountability for our work and projects. We cultivate trusted aid networks across Syria to deliver relief and services to areas far beyond the limited reach of international aid organizations.
More than 50 bombs and mortars a day land on some neighbourhoods in Syria. Many are rusty barrels filled with nails and explosives, rolled out the back of government helicopters — bakeries and markets are the most commonly hit targets. When this happens The White Helmets rush in to search for life in the rubble – fully aware that more bombs may fall on the same site. These volunteers have saved 40,823 lives – and this number is growing daily.
Project Amal ou Salam, meaning Project Hope and Peace, is a grassroots organization dedicated to empowering Syria’s children to rebuild their country and work for peace. This is done through day camps with Syrian children, material donations (such as coloring books, games, and sports equipment), holiday events, and monetary support of schools both inside and out of Syria.
We are excited to have 30 international volunteers join us this March in Jordan to work with 800 kids for our bi-annual workshops, including arts, music, sports, health and photography! (Photo: Amal ou Salam).
MOAS is a Malta-based registered foundation dedicated to preventing loss of life by providing professional search-and-rescue assistance to refugees and migrants in distress at sea. This charity exists to save children, with a fleet of rescue boats patrolling the Mediterranean to save migrants lost at sea.
RESCUE AT SEA: 369 MIGRANTS RESCUED IN JUST ONE DAY BY MOAS, AFTER BEING SPOTTED BY THE SCHIEBEL CAMCOPTER. (Photo: Jason Florio MOAS).
This German nonprofit matches people with spare rooms with refugees in need of housing. If you don’t have a spare bed in Germany, you can still donate to their groups. Greece is welcoming refugees with open doors since October 2015. Refugees Welcome are currently supporting groups in more than 20 countries with setting up “Refugees Welcome” groups in their respective country.
One of the few organizations that directly provides aid on the ground in Syria, including food, clothing, water, sanitation and crucial medical assistance to “help people to stay in Syria instead of fleeing to another country.” We have been at the forefront of humanitarian aid in Syria since the conflict began. Unlike most aid agencies, we work inside Syria, so your gifts will go straight to the people in most desperate need. And since we cover our costs in other ways, every single penny of your donation will go to Syria.
The links below are to several of the larger organizations helping refugees, migrants and internally displaced persons.
Before making a donation to one of the more prominent organizations, I recommend using a charity watchdog site. Charity Navigator is a good start. You can evaluate what percentage of donations go directly toward aid, versus overhead, among other factors. It also has a list of highly ranked charities helping Syrian refugees.
International Medical Corps has teams on the ground providing direct medical assistance to Syrian refugees in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. In the Turkish city of Gaziantep, not from the war-torn Syrian city of Aleppo, IMC helps run a service center for Syrian refugees that provides medical care, classes and job training.
Medical Teams International focuses on health and dental care for Syrian refugees in Lebanon. Their volunteers “monitor chronic disease patients in their homes and provide families and communities with vital information on chronic disease recognition, management and disease prevention.”
Mercy Corps provides direct aid to Syrian refugees in the form of food and supplies, and by increasing access to clean water and sanitation, shelters, and safe spaces and activities for children
The charity provides emergency food, clothing and shelter for Syrian children, including clean water, medical treatment, schools, and centers for traumatized children inside Syria, and in Syrian refugee camps. Save the Children has helped more than 3.8 million people in the region — 1.6 million inside Syria.
ShelterBox has been providing emergency shelter and supplies to families affected by the Syrian crisis in Iraq, Kurdistan, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria; including clothing, stoves and water filters.
Oxfam provides aid to Syrian refugees in Lebanon and Jordan. In Jordan’s Zaatari Camp, home to 83,000 refugees, Oxfam provides clean water, sanitation services and hygiene education to help ward off cholera and other intestinal diseases.
Publishers are welcome to re-blog this article. Please include a credit and link back to AlistairReignBlog.com.
A question I have been asked many times since I began covering the humanitarian crisis in Yemen; who is taking care of the war orphans in Yemen? It appears the world has forgotten them. I question whether the world has ever acknowledged the Yemeni children’s tragic and worsening crisis.
Yemen:(2016) It is now normal for adults to put children to sleep in a large hole in the ground to protect them from sniper bullets and cluster bombs that spray shrapnel, which slice thru their tender flesh. The Saudi’s use of cluster bombs have been responsible for over 10,000 child deaths since 2015.
Perhaps because they are not considered refugee orphans – the public on a whole is not paying attention to the gross crimes committed against these little ones – committed at the hands of an invading regime –Saudi Arabia.
Humanitarian groups within Yemen are sending out pleas for the intervention of world leaders to help medical staff get the sick and injured children out of Yemen and in to hospitals, or by upholding the rules of war, and use their power as the UNSC to enforce the opening of Yemen’s borders, and allow the rest of the world to save the lives of the children the Saudi King has been ruthlessly slaughtering for the past year.
Yemen: Hands of a Yemeni child tell of a harsh life, one that a child that size should never know 2016.
We are talking about tens of thousands of children and babies who have committed no crime, they are not a threat to the Saudi regime, yet the Saudi King has reached across his border – seized them in his clutch of terror – and the trauma he has thrust them into is horrifying; seeing parents and siblings killed by violence; surviving only to suffer fear and hopelessness when they realize nobody is there to take care of them; for some orphans there is no family left alive to be aware they even existed.
Yemen: A child without protection is a child sentenced to unspeakable abuse or death 2016.
A child without an adult’s protection is a child sentenced to unspeakable abuse or death.
I have been told that in the best case scenario a family member or neighbor would take orphaned children into their care, but this happens much less frequently, as the past year of constant bombing has been so devastating that adults can no longer extend their protection, not when they are barely able to provide food and shelter for their own children.
Thankfully there are humanitarians inside Yemen to watch over the little ones at risk.
The caring people at ‘Your Ability Organization For Development‘ are defending children against the suffering inflicted on them by this senseless war.
“Silence of the world is killing the children in Yemen,” said Mohammed Alharthy.
Before:This child was wandering the streets with no shoes 2016.After: Your Ability staff invited him in and fitted him with clothing 2016.
I have been speaking with Mohammed Alharthy, CEO and Vice President of Your Ability. and for several weeks he has been graciously walking me through the activities of their organization’s mission, to alleviate the suffering of children, and bring global awareness to the –beyond dire– humanitarian crisis in Yemen, specifically Sana’a where one of their facilities is located.
Your Ability Organization began as a development project, receiving permits from social affairs ministry, and has facilitated many courses, such as medical evacuation during a disaster, with the purpose to save people from buildings bombed by warplanes and other weapons, as well how to perform first aid to injured people during a bombing, including how the person providing aid must also save themselves.
Yemen: A little girl holding her new dress from YA 2016.
However, Your Ability opened their facilities to displaced people last March(2015) with the onslaught of the Saudi-led attack on civilians. Your Ability has been able to provide shelter and warm clothing to the needy people desperately trying to survive the bitter cold in homes with no gas or electricity (if they are even lucky enough to have a house left standing).
Your Ability staff has told me that nowadays their focus has been on defending the orphans; and they send out a call for everyone to cooperate in order to stop these violations. Your Ability has plenty of projects aiding the children in all aspects of health, but with the breakdown of an internal structure there is no support for their programs, particularly financial support.
Yemen: YAO’s facility, turned into an orphanage, children are safe under the care of a few brave souls 2016.
The Your Ability staff and volunteers have created safe havens for the orphaned children by turning their facilities into living quarters.
Even so, the hardship of children is great, as is the burden placed on a small number of people, because their own resources are limited by the difficulty of smuggling in medicine and food.
Yemen: Inside YAO’s facility, children are eating dinner with a staff member 2016.
The danger these brave caregivers face is also a concern, as Saudi Arabia has proven that they search out the buildings sheltering the disabled and sick, including the elderly and children.
When I asked Mr. Alharthy of Your Ability if there was a message he would like to tell the world – his reply was heartbreaking.
Yemen: Your Ability staff and children take a selfie during their festival for children 2016.
“Our message is to reach the whole world that we endeavor to save children from slippage into poor mental health as a result of the terror they witnessed, and which remains a part of their daily struggle.”
The organization explained in more detail the main concern they have identified.
A child sent out to search for essential supplies may never return.
Yemen: Very young child is carrying a large bottle in his search for water.
Your Ability has advised me that the dangers Yemeni children face goes far beyond the cluster bombs and sniper’s indiscriminately targeting civilians of all ages. I have been told from several sources in Yemen that a child as young as five-years-old will be sent out alone on an arduous search for gas and water, putting them at risk and vulnerable to many obstacles and crimes against children – including abductions, abuse, exploitation, and even burning of the child’s body.
Often that young child is solely responsible for keeping his mother and siblings alive.
The Mental Health of a Generation of Yemeni Children.
Yemen: Young boys at a local amusement park, seen here with a YAO group leader 2016.
During their recent visit to “You are the future” festival for the orphanages, Your Ability provided tickets for children to go have fun at a local amusement park.
“In this way we can support them psychologically like all other kids, and give them the chance to develop friendship with other kids by organizing days of recreational, giving caregivers the chance to speak to them about their needs, feelings and dreams, also the troubles they face,” said Mr. Alharthy.
Your ability organization also supports the orphanages with food and other essential needs, and together discuss enterprise management for continued support for involving the orphans dynamically in the society.
Your Ability Has Teamed Up With Mona Relief to Help Relieve The Suffering Of Children.
Yemen: This child needs ear surgery after the loud bombs are causing his deafness 2016.
Many orphanages have run out of food and medicine as well, and children are dying of starvation and treatable diseases. Mona Relief Charity was able to provide Your Ability with much needed medicine, and together they will deliver them to the orphanages.
Your Ability has also joined Mona Relief Charity‘s “School Bags Campaign“, and together they will work toward bringing happiness to the children and stop their suffering.
Mr. Alharthy expressed with deep concern that “Many children are waiting for us to return their smile, forty children to date, with their house damaged and with different injuries.
“We have done a survey for some places, not all, and had visited many hospital that use to medicate children, and these hospitals can no longer provide all medical support due to shortage of medical tools and the enormity of injuries.
Yemen: Young mother receives essential baby supplies from YAO. (I can’t help but notice how skinny she is) 2016.
“Many of the children hospitalized have died because of no medicine and no experienced doctors.
“The current situation is getting worse, and for that we train many youth to aid people with diseases, and for this, those of us at Your Ability need support. Furthermore, we need an international organizations for doing this project with us in order to cover all provinces in Yemen during this breakout of diseases.
Yemen: A baby is receiving medical care and life-saving milk at a nourishing department in Sana’a. And it is only thru your donations that hospitals can save children from the slow agonizing death by starvation.Yemen: YAO delivering warm blankets and medical packages to a Sana’a hospital 2016.
“Due to bombing the residential areas, there are many civilian people and children had been buried under rubble. The children have become the victim because his parent were killed, and now he is compelled to carry a weapon instead of pen, for protecting what family he has left.
“This ongoing battle, and no provisions make his suffering and struggling even more agonizing.“
Yemen: Boxes of hospital supplies delivered by Your Ability staff 2016.
Your Ability Organization has distributed blankets and medical packages to Alsabien hospital’s nourishing department in order to distribute them to aggrieved children, women and men in Sana’a.
“There are many cases needing help.
Yemen: Youth gather at one of the facilities converted to make-shift orphanages 2016.
“We had visited one of the orphanage establishment in Sana’a where one-hundred-fifty (150) orphans between the ages five to eighteen (5-18) years old. This establishment complains from lack of foods as the previous support has all stopped due to the war, and has caused even worse suffering because the children are slowly starving to death.
“The orphan children are also suffering a great deal of trauma from the constant bombing near their establishment.“
Yemen: YAO visits an orphanage to deliver care packages.
These statistics and stories come from only ONE of many orphanages in Sana’a.
“There are many orphans living on the streets looking for food by gathering plastic bottles from rubbish, or by begging other people on streets – where roundabouts are filled with child orphans. Moreover, Sana’a hospitals are full of children suffering terribly from malnutrition.”
I would like to acknowledge the staff and volunteers at ‘Your Ability Organization For Development’ for their brave works, and I encourage the world to support the enormous task this small group of humanitarians have taken on to protect Yemen’s future – their children.
In today’s world it takes more than a village to raise a child – it takes an entire planet.
I ask of my readers to give generously to the cause of saving Yemeni children, not only from death, but from a life of misery and mental illness. Now is the time to act – not later.
Please donate generously to Your Ability Organization’s Go Fund Me page. One hundred percent (100%) of your donations go directly to the Your Ability and Mona Relief Organization’s bank accounts; in turn, all the funds they receive are used to purchase essential supplies for orphanages, hospitals and poverty-stricken families.
There are no intermediary fees taken out of your donation, except for the small percentage the Go Fund Me company shaves off for their fee, and best of all, your money reaches the children very quickly.
Mona Relief has become a lifeline to the Yemeni families they reach; delivering more than physical aid, they bring with them a glimmer of hope; a reassurance that Yemen is not forgotten.
Yemen needs the free world to open more than its eyes – people need to open their minds and hearts to the Yemenis – it is time our so-called civilized nations start acting like civilized human beings – not territorial animals.
In less thanone year of civil war more than 21 million Yemeni peopleneed some type ofhumanitarian assistanceto survive– the equivalent of over 80 percent of the population; the life-threatening food, water and medical crisis is made even worse by the fact that about 2.3 million people have lost their homes and livelihood due to airstrikes, orphaned children sleep on the street, and families live on the rubble of what was once their home with no means to provide for surviving family members.
Mona Relief Charity on Go Fund Me makes it easy and safe to donate. No amount is too small, or too large.
Saudi-led airstrikes began targeting positions of the Houthis and Yemeni army allies in mid-March 2015, and the horrific reality is about 90% of the bombs fell on the civilian population.[01]
“The suffering that this conflict is inflicting on people is heartbreaking. I hear first-hand accounts of it whenever I speak with women, children and elderly people who have made the perilous crossing to reach Djibouti, Ethiopia and Somalia,” said Claire Bourgeois, UNHCR’s regional refugee coordinator for Yemen.
A Picture And Its Story: A Life in The Balance: The mother of 21-month-old Majed Ayyash prepares him to be weighed in a malnutrition intensive care unit in Sanaa, Yemen July 30, 2015. Damaged by a lack of skilled medical care at a critical moment, many infants struggle for life in a hospital in the bomb-damaged capital Sanaa.(Photo: Reuters/Khaled Abdullah).
“Wadha said: “We had a decent life before the war started, we had a business and were cultivating crops. But now diesel became expensive and my husband cannot pay for water.“
“Even before the war, Yemen had one of the highest child malnutrition rates in the world, according to the World Food Programme. Around half of all children under five are stunted; too short for their age as a result of malnutrition.” [02]
Mona Relief Charity on our Go Fund Me makes it easy and safe to donate.
“Mothers have been forced to watch their children slowly disappear to the cruelty and torture which is hunger.
A Yemeni woman helps her malnourished child to breathe at a therapeutic feeding centre.
“Those mothers whose hands were always open in an eternal act of offering to their kin, have now been closed in anguish.
“Mothers’ hands are all but empty, mothers’ hands – those hands which once wiped away tears and consoled their little ones stand idle, barren – like, the land which now witnesses a people’s sorrow.
“When not even mothers’ hands can bring comfort and hope, what left is there?
“The Mona Relief Organization is fighting to keep hope alive – but this one organization cannot possibly do it alone, its volunteers cannot possibly defy injustice and defeat poverty by themselves,” writes Catherine Shakdam, Mona Relief Charity.
Yemen needs not handouts but the means to build a better future, one which war stole.
PLEASE GIVE GENEROUSLY AND #SaveALifeInYemen TODAY.
Mona Relief Charity on our Go Fund Me makes it easy and safe to donate. No amount is too small, or too large.
Thank you on behalf of the Yemeni families who are relying on the worlds’ humanity, as they struggle to survive in their darkest hour, they cannot do it alone.
Please send inquiries and permission to re-blog this article to Alistair.Reign@Gmail.com, thank you.
Watch rare films and TV series in our Documentaries section.
Watch Daily News at Alistair Reign Channel on YouTube.
The United Nations World Food Programme has stressed in a news release. appeals to all parties to the conflict to allow the safe passage of food to all civilians in need in all areas in Taiz,” said Muhannad Hadi, WFP Regional Director for the Middle East, North Africa, Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
In many areas of Yemen, devastated by conflict, ongoing insecurity hampers WFP’s efforts to get food to the people in need.
Taiz is one of 10 governorates – out of Yemen’s 22 governorates – that are in the grip of severe food insecurity at ‘Emergency’ level – one step below famine on the five-point Integrated Food Security Phase Classification scale.
An estimated 7.6 million people in Yemen do not have enough food to lead a healthy life, have lost their livelihoods and are facing life-threatening rates of acute malnutrition.
The conflict since late March 2015 has worsened Yemen’s already poor food security situation, adding more than 3 million people to the ranks of the hungry in less than a year. [01]
Last month, the UN Security Council voiced “deep concern about the dire humanitarian situation in Yemen, which continues to worsen,” stressing that more than 80 per cent of its 21 million people require some form of humanitarian aid. [02]
Delivering Humanitarian Aid to Yemeni People.(Photo: WHO).
The World Health Organization (WHO) has delivered more than 100 tonnes of medicines and medical supplies for more than one million beneficiaries in 8 districts of Taiz governorate, where more than 3 million people, including 392,000 internally displaced persons, are in dire need of humanitarian assistance.
“The health situation in Taiz has increasingly deteriorated. Shortages in health staff, medicines and fuel, as well as limited access by the humanitarian community due to the insecurity, have caused many health facilities in the governorate to shut down,” said WHO Representative in Yemen Dr Ahmed Shadoul.
“We are calling on all parties to guarantee unrestricted, long term delivery of humanitarian aid and unconditional movement of health workers.”
UNICEF Faisal, 18 months old is treated for severe acute malnutrition at Sabeen hospital in Yemen’s capital Sana’a.
WHO is negotiating with all parties to the conflict and advocating for unconditional access of medicines and supplies to these three districts, where 400 000 people are in critical need of humanitarian assistance.
“WHO is deeply concerned about the continuous lack of humanitarian access to Taiz City, depriving people from basic health care and violating their essential human rights. WHO re-emphasizes the crucial need for uninterrupted delivery of health services and calls upon all concerned parties to respect the basic rights of all Yemenis to access health care services,” said Dr Shadoul. [03]
Please help save a child’s life, it only takes a few minutes, a few dollars, and one child can live another day.
The Mona Relief Charity Organization is making a difference, and they are reaching the Yemeni families literally dying without the food delivered by their brave staff and volunteers. Donations can be made on their website or at our Go Fund Me Campaign.
Displaced: child and mother live on the sidewalk.(Foreign Policy).
Risking their own lives to save other people’s lives, on Wednesday a handful of humanitarian workers managed to beat the Saudi blockade of Yemen to deliver food and warm clothing to people in dire need (their homes have been flattened into uninhabitable piles of rubble and mangled rebar), orphaned children sleep in the dusty streets, and it is not an exaggeration to say there is no food to be purchased, nor water to drink or wash.
Displaced: orphaned children sleep in the streets.(Yemen Twitter).
“In March 2015 Saudi Arabia, the richest country in the Arabian Peninsula and regional super-power declared war on impoverished Yemen. Backed by a grand regional coalition and the tacit agreement of the international community, Saudi Arabia has ravaged Yemen, raining missiles on its people. As weeks turned into months, Yemenis found themselves caught in the eye of a furious storm, the prisoners of a war they did not seek nor did initiate.
Sanaa: child collects water provided by philanthropist. (via google).
Suffocated by an embargo which has defied all humanitarian laws, Yemen has been cut off the world. With no food, no fuel, no access to clean water, no medicine, no shelter and no means to protect themselves from the harsh climate, millions await, completely destitute,” writes Catherine Shakdam.
A few readers have inquired as to why I proudly support and recommend donating to the Mona Relief fundraising campaign. In response I wrote this article, and I dedicate it to all of the unrecognized soldiers of war – the civilians and medical staff fighting, and dying to keep people alive despite the increasing danger to humanitarian workers and medical facilities – where the rules of war meant to protect civilians and hospitals, apparently no longer apply.
In response to the crisis in Yemen, the Mona Relief campaign has ‘Declared War on Hunger.’
Mona Relief Director, Fatik Al-Rodaini chatting with a little girl during a distribution, (maybe asking what her favorite colour is for a winter jacket).(Photo: monarelief.org).
Fatik Al-Rodaini is Director and founder of Mona Relief, a Yemeni Registered Charity. He also accompanies the charity’s staff, and helps distribute their lifesaving care packages; always taking time to visit with families, giving some much-needed humanitarian hugs, and reassurance the world has not forgotten them.
A Yemeni journalist for Khabar News Agency recently said of the Mona staff, “…planting smiles on the faces of children… with distribution of blankets, and winter clothing, and food… and some therapeutic aid.“[01]
My interactions with Mona staff has been through social media and email communications, however I feel as though I have met the people whose dedication makes the delivery of aid possible in locations that are almost impossible to reach. I picture the men and women (taking a chance of being shot or imprisoned each time they deliver food), walking humbly down the street, unrecognized as heroes, expecting no adulation for their bravery, yet they have earned a place among the most heroic men and women in humanitarian history.
Mona Relief Staff delivering lifesaving food, clothing, blankets and medicine to villages dying under the siege of Saudi-led War on Yemen. (Mona Relief Twitter).
Despite the overwhelming risk of delivering lifesaving necessities to people under siege, these brave ‘civilian soldiers’ are crossing blockades with a mission to save Yemeni families from starving, or freezing to death.
The consequences of defying the Saudi blockade is always present, but this risk does not stop Mona staff. The following photo is a post from Mona’s Director, Mr. Al-Rodaini’s Twitter account, uploaded during Wednesday’s distribution.
I have bad news guys, during our humanitarian work today my car got shot by unknown. Thanks God no one was hurt #Yemenpic.twitter.com/OMHqfe00s8
During Rodaini’s interview with Khabar News, he explained how Mona staff are mostly journalists and activists, all working in the cultural and humanitarian sphere. He spoke on how the organization evolved from when the fore-mentioned group began monitoring human right’s violations in Yemen, and witnessed the desperate need for humanitarian aid; by May the group was delivering food to the starving women, children, elderly, and disabled Yemeni people. According to Rodaini the organization is also investigating the targeted houses, as well assessing needs for proper distribution of aid to all internally displaced persons in Yemen.
Fatik Al-Rodaini, Director, Mona Relief.
Rodaini said, “Our work is in many provinces, including Amran, Hajja, Saada and Hodeida, and the secretariat of the capital, with the distribution of basic food aid for the needy who are below the poverty line, and the displaced.” [01]
While speaking of their trips into the district’s of the capital earlier this month, he commented how staff are faithfully determined to deliver van loads of winter clothes, blankets, food, and medical aid in Senynh and Shoveler in the near future. [01]
True to his word, they have. Below are posts from the Mona Relief Twitter page showing photos taken by the Mona team delivering food, clothing, blankets, and medicine to people dying under the airstrikes from the Saudi-led War on Yemen.
“With your donation we will make sure that those who lost everything to war have a safe place to stay, a warm meal to eat and the support they need to get back on their feet.“
Without your help millions of innocent people stand to die. If we wait for governments to act, thousands more will die.
“Yemen needs your generosity and we need you to help us save its children. Every penny raised will be used to provide food, medicine and all other necessities to those most in need,” Catherine Shakdam, Mona Relief.
For more information on the Mona Relief Charity and their dedicated volunteers, you can visit their website here, and the Mona Relief Facebook page is located here. Follow their works on Twitter @MonaReliefye. Please donate generously to the Mona Relief ‘War on Hunger‘ campaign on our Go Fund Me – ColourOfWar fundraising page.
Humanity First is running two schools in Mafraq and Amman for Syrian refugee children. This is helping the refugees to get into the Jordanian education system, have a chance of getting a Baccalaureate and entering University.
Photo screenshot: Humanity First Video ‘Serving Syrian Refugees’.
Humanity First writes: “For the younger children in Mafraq including many orphans, Humanity First is providing counselling to help them recover from the trauma of war.
“The conflict in Syria has now entered its fifth year, and yet there is still no end in sight. The scale of human suffering has surpassed even our worst estimates. Due to miserable living conditions and no safety nets available for survival, thousands of displaced Syrian refugees are using all means to migrate to European countries.
“On September 2, 2015, the world woke up to see pictures of the lifeless body of a 3-year-old boy, washed up ashore Turkey who was later identified as Aylan Kurdi. Aylan, his 5-year-old brother Galip and their mother, Rehan, were among at least 12 people who died on a boat headed for Greece. These children and their families would not have suffered this tragedy if they had hope for a brighter future for their families close to home.
Photo screenshot: Humanity First Video ‘Serving Syrian Refugees’.
“Humanity First has taken upon itself to sow the seeds of hope and make the land safer than the water for children and their families once again. We have been helping displaced families in Jordan and Turkey by providing them with means to settle down.
“The most prominent initiative of Humanity First has been operating two schools for Syrian refugee children in Jordan for the past one year. Mafraq School has 100 children enrolled between the ages of 5 and 10 years. Amman Senior School is being operated in collaboration with a local partner Al Gharaa Charitable Organisation. The school currently has enrolled 150 pupils aged between 17 and 20 years of which 27 students recently secured admission to Universities and Colleges.
“We could not save Aylan Kurdi and many others, but with your support we may save thousands of others impacted by Syrian Crisis and several other disasters around the world.”
Click here and visit Humanity First’s website, and read how you can get involved as a volunteer.
Human Rights Watch accepts no funding from governments. We rely solely on the generosity of people like you to defend human rights. You Can help us Protect Families Who are Fleeing Violence and Persecution.
The field task: I am the leader of my field crews. I visit cities and areas to distribute and supervise the delivery of aid to the needy people. I also assess where, how, why and to whom aid must be given, besides supervising the performance of the field crews in order to guarantee everything is done in a good way.
Alistair Reign News Blog 