Yemen Stories

This story was sent along by Mohammed Alzaeem, our most active contributor to our Yemen Stories blog.  You can follow him on Twitter at @mohammedalzaee1. Children playing football in the street - Taiz, Yemen The children in my neighborhood turn the street into a playground to play football. Two teams of children are throwing the ball. On the sidewalk stands the referee with his whistle in his hand.  One of the attendees tells me that this match is being held within the Ramadan Football Competition, which is organized by a group of young people in the city. The teams of Taiz's neighborhoods compete for the title.  Because they do not have a playground, they have made some streets in various neighborhoods playgrounds. It is the insistence on life in the face of death in a war-torn country. All they dream about is to live their lives in dignity, peace and harmony.  The picture is an example of the triumph of life over death, love over hatred ...

Here's a submission from Amjad Al-Khattabi, who can be followed on Twitter at @Amjad_khatabi. "I just wanted to show this video. Anas appears training on his new artificial hand on 1:10 https:// m.facebook.com/story.php?stor y_fbid=232587387495314&id=208858436534876  … We have started an initiative aimed to distribute free prosthetics for those who are in need. We named it Enable Yemen because we want it to be a verified member of the international e-nable bases in the US ( link: http:// enablingthefuture.org   ) . Until now enable has approved two of our submissions first for 3d printing quality and the second for assembly." While the point of this blog is not to focus on the war, the chaos and destruction caused by it is sadly an undeniable part of the everyday lives of Yemenis.  Amjad's post, and the video, speaks to the incredible spirit of Yemen in the face of almost unimaginable heartbreak and devastation.

Here is a submission from Mohammed Hojily, who can be followed on Twitter at @MohammedHojily. "Yemen is one of the oldest Civilizations in the World.  It's also one of the most beautiful countries in the Middle East unless we say in the world.  Despite the war and destruction which Yemen is passing through currently the beauty still exists, resists war's circumstances.  Yemen has a huge diverse culture that is still visible in every single Village and small Town.  Only in Yemen you can see the miracles everywhere in multiple ways, every Yemeni village represents historical or natural Museum as Yemenis say.  The people of Yemen defeated the natural and built their villages and castles in unexpected places, on the tops of highest mountains overlooking the clouds. Every please in this country is more beautiful than the other." "Ancient Mosque and Clerk grave based on top of Mountain overlooking the clouds in Haraz district." "Al-Qahira (or Qair...

Here is a submission from Mohammed Al-Rumim, who you can follow on Twitter at @mohammedalrumim: "She covered her head as the Crown of life, while her eyes stared at the years of struggle and challenge! I'm talking about a Sabria girl from #Taiz city - #Yemen." When we first envisioned this blog one of the things we discussed was the power of images.  A single picture, tied to a few sentences to provide context, speaks volumes.  I love this picture that Mohammed sent along, not only because, well, it is a beautiful picture, but also because her eyes hint at a very profound story.  I hope she "visits" us again.  The life of women in Yemen is a story that I hope we explore on this blog.

The following is a submission by Mohammed Alzaeem, who you can follow on Twitter at @mohammedalzaee1 "This is a YouTube link of a music piece titled Love & Peace composed by Yemeni Musician Ahmed Fathi.  It is a dialogue between Arabic Oud and western flute.  He played it in Washington in 2009.  I'm sure you'll like it." Mohammed Alzaeem is certainly correct: I really like this piece.  I love the fact that Mohammed sent along a music piece, not only because of the beauty of the piece, but also because I hope that our discussion will follow many different paths.  In introducing his song Ahmed Fathi states, "We hope through this piece to improve, to enhance, the Arab portrait and the Muslim portrait, of the people here, and the future for our children."  This is a noble goal, and one that I'm sure we all share.

The following is a submission from South Yemen Untold, who you can follow on Twitter at  @Free_S_Y:  "Here goes: the media only tells one side of the story.  We don't seem to matter though though what is happening now is largely about us." As I've talked to folks inside of Yemen we've discussed a goal of having a blog that doesn't actively take one side or the other, although, obviously, all of us have opinions and loyalties.  In the end the political challenges that Yemenis face is part of their day to day life, so providing a platform to discuss their frustrations is not necessarily taking a stand on any side.  In this case folks from what used to be South Yemen (and, truthfully, many of them even object to the term South Yemen because it implies a connection to the rest of Yemen that they don't feel) report that as ignored as Yemen is by the world media, southern Yemen is much more ignored. To convey their frustrations they sent along a Yemeni ...

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 h...