The last breakfast

The family decided to remain in Sa’ada city in a small rented house where some relatives were supporting them with rent and food.  But only seven months later, the conflict lines had extended to the city and again they were forced to be on the move – they joined the travelling group of internally displaced people to Amran governorate, south of Sa’ada. “Just as we had started to feel stable, we had to flee again, but this time leaving everything behind: our village, our city and the precious people who had died.”
Amran governorate, according to the International Organization for Migration, hosts the second-highest number of internally displaced people (IDPs) in Yemen. Across the country, the number of IDPs has reached over 3 million, representing more than 12 per cent of the overall population.

Conditions for displaced families in Amran have worsened. In overcrowded collective centres, displaced women and girls suffer most from a lack of privacy, as well as threats to their safety and limited access to basic services. And since Nasrah’s family was left with only women and girls, they decided to rent a small house and today they rely mostly on aid to survive.

In spite of unspeakable pain and loss, people like Nasrah have not lost hope. They patch together the pieces of their lives the war has not ripped from them. And they are getting help to survive during this impossible time. CARE, for example, offers emergency cash assistance to families like Nasrah so that they can buy food and pay rent for the temporary homes they have found.

Nasrah told us: “The only thing which helps me survive the daily sorrow is the smile of Dawa, my granddaughter. She reminds me of her father. Her name means medicine and she is the medicine of my heart. My only hope is that she can finish her studies and have a bright future.”