A generation being deprived of education

Continuing with the second of a three part blog by Ibrahim Alwazir, Oxfam’s Social Media Officer in Yemen.

Part 2: A generation being deprived of education

Ahmed Saleh is 39 years old, is a father of 10 and lives in Al-Shanitifah village in Amran governorate. He works as a farmer during the rainy season in summer – he grows millet – and as a porter outside the village during the rest of the year. Despite the work, he is barely earning enough to feed his big family. He never had the opportunity to provide clean water to his family, because he was never able to afford the clean water from the water trucks that usually cost him 12,000 YER, which is more than what he makes.

In the village, men gather every morning outside their small houses to discuss rumours of available jobs, unavailable cash and the disappearing hope that they will have something for their families to eat by noon.

Left: Abdullah*, a fourth-grade student in Khamer district of Amran governorate, holds his notebooks. Photo: Ameen Al-Ghaberi/Gabreez. Right: Wadi Akhraf -Water source, in Habor Zulaimat, Amran governorate Wadea Al-Mekhlafi / Oxfam Yemen.

In these villages, men only have two main job opportunities: either farm or perform hard-labour tasks such as construction or carrying goods. Many lack proper education or vocational training, making it hard for them to perform other jobs or better serve their communities.

Farming usually is seasonal and that is due to the lack of agricultural training, research and funding, as many farmers are unaware of the best practices to enhance their crops or to make use of the land all year long. There is also no storage capacity for the crops to be sold during the entire year. Most fruits and vegetables are available only during certain seasons, while their prices change based on supply and demand throughout the year.

I remember the beauty of many farms we had passed by and it seems that Yemenis pay as much attention to their farms as they do to their children and houses. One can see that the farms are neat, well-built and have enough supplies of water and fertilizers that nourish plants and satisfy viewers' eyes. No matter how isolated the farms were, water is regularly delivered to them through pipes or water-trucks to the extent that plants started to believe they are growing somewhere near the equator.

Yemenis are known to be the first to build agricultural terraces over mountains, to make use of rain to water the lands. They unfortunately never managed to come up with an idea to make water continuously available to their houses and save their wives and children the troubles of fetching water from faraway and sometimes dangerous locations.

For thousands of children in Yemen, walking every day with heavy jerrycans filled with water is more common than attending school. Some rural communities in Yemen do not see school as mandatory or necessary for children as they sometimes believe that men don't need an education to work and women don't need schooling to get married and have children. Many cannot afford either the fees or the supplies needed to attend school.

If the school is nearby and there are no chores to be done, then children can go but only until sixth grade, when they will then be old enough to help their families inside or outside the house. Girls help their mothers with house chores and take care of younger siblings, while boys help their fathers with farming, livestock or just hang around with their friends when their parents are busy.

The war has strongly exacerbated this situation – schools have been bombed, destroyed or occupied, and an entire generation is now being deprived of education.

One of the world's gravest humanitarian crises.

More than 14,600 civilians have been killed or injured during three years of devastating conflict in Yemen and over 2,200 others have died of cholera, mostly children and the elderly. Over three million people have been forced to flee their homes due to the bombing and fighting. The country is on the brink of famine and is also now suffering the largest ever outbreak of cholera since records began, as nearly 1 million cases have been reported. 22 million people in Yemen are in dire need of immediate humanitarian assistance, the greatest number in any country in the world.

Oxfam is there

Since July 2015, Oxfam has reached more than 2.8 million people with humanitarian assistance, with the help of our local partners in Yemen. Help includes water and sanitation services, cash assistance and food vouchers.

We are delivering emergency aid but we urgently need your help to do more.

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*Name changed to protect identity