Miserable Childhood

The following is a submission by Mohammed Alzaeem, who you can follow on Twitter at @mohammedalzaee1

I don't know what I could add to this extraordinary picture and Mohammed's heartfelt words other than to say that they're exactly what I hope the blog can convey: the everyday stories of Yemenis.  Some are going to be happy and some are going to be sad, and some are going to be inspiring and some are going to be heartbreaking.  Too many people look at Yemen and simply see war or religious tension or terrorism, but there are also kids like this who are trying, against all odds, to make a better life.

"A photo by Yemeni photographer, Hossam Al-Kallaya, Taizz.

A child carries vegetables and fruits plastic baskets. Like all other children of the world, he is supposed to fully enjoy all the child rights. But being in a poor war-torn country like Yemen, he, instead of going to school and then spending his free time playing and having fun with other children in his neighborhood, is forced by the bad conditions of life to work hard in order to make a living for his poor family. He is an example of a childhood of misery and deprivation."

I will always do my best to capture the exact words of the person submitting the story, not simply because I'm a historian, but because their experiences and dreams and joys and fears contain an eloquence that I could never match.