HOPE AMIDST HARDSHIP

Al-Salam camp, a place where shared dreams and broken lives find a temporary refuge. Within the confines of this desolate space, the difficulties faced by its inhabitants are etched on their weary faces, telling tales of unimaginable hardship and unrelenting sorrow.

“As I stepped foot into the camp, I was immediately engulfed by a sea of emotions … a cacophony of fear, grief, and desperation. Families torn apart by conflict, living now in makeshi tents surrounded by a brick wall, which barely shielding them from heavy rain and high winds. A few families had to sell their food baskets so that they could get the medicines needed for their children. Although 110 HHs are benefited from the food security, livelihood, and WASH services, still many families require urgent shelter repair/maintenance, education, and healthcare services,” RDP Communications Officer Stated.

This case study examines the challenges faced by a displaced child’s family living in Al-Salam camps and finds out the impact of the integrated emergency response project for food security, livelihood, and WASH services in Al-Marawi’ah district of Al-Hudaydah governorate which aims to support conflict-affected people settling in camps with monthly food baskets, HHs latrines, livestock, vocational training, and in-kind grants of sewing machines/motorcycle maintenance kits to empower their well-being and help them become self-sufficient.

Mahfoud, a boy at the age of 10, is living now with his grandmother and six members of his uncle’s family under the poverty line in Al-Salam IDPs’ camp. At the age of 3 in 2017, Mahfoud and his parents fled their house because of the conflict in Kilo 16 of Al-Hudaydah gov, heading to an IDPs camp in Al-Marawi’ah district. Two days later, Mahfoud’s father “Adam” made sure that his son and wife would be safe and in good hands with his mother-in-law, so he left the house without telling his wife or anyone about his whereabouts. “When I asked Mahfoud whether he recognizes his father or not, he said

“I don’t know what my father looks like, he left when I was 3 years old.” Unfortunately, after two years of displacement, Mahfoud’s mother died of cancer, leaving a boy of 5 years to be raised by a grandmother and an uncle. Unlike other kids, Mahfoud doesn’t have the best childhood in life.

Adding fuel to fire, Mahfoud has never received any school learning! He is now 10 years old, yet he cannot read or write so as his uncle’s kids. Mahfoud’s uncle said that, “I go every day to the town market seeking to earn some money either by carrying stuff to people or by helping a stonemason in cutting stone to pieces, but not all days I go back home with money.

Our main concern is to fight for food and medicine, so thanks to the relief assistance RDP and SoH support us with which really lifts some weight out of our shoulders. Honestly, education is a luxury that we cannot afford. For now, what I’m longing for is to have a shelter that can protect us from heavy rain and strong winds as we live in makeshi tent.”

This displaced family has been benefited from the HHs latrines and the distribution of food baskets within the integrated emergency response project for food security, livelihood, and WASH services, implemented by Relief and Development Peer Foundation (RDP) and funded by Sign of Hope, in Al-Salam camp, Al-Marawi’ah district, Al-Hudaydah governorate.