Jawharah Ali Hadadi is a 60-year-old woman living in Hodeidah governorate in the west of Yemen. She lives with her five children in a camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) after leaving her home in Haradh district of Hajjah when the Yemeni conflict escalated in 2015. She has been displaced twice and has lived in two IDP camps – one in Abs, Hajjah, and now in Al-Kharsha in Hodeidah.
Jawharah is the only provider for her children since the death of her husband eight years ago. “He had serious diseases and we had no money to take care of him,” she says. “My husband died in front of me and I was unable to do anything to help him.”
After her husband’s death Jawharah was alone with five children and life was extremely hard. She was unable to work due to the cultural situation in Yemen which often makes it difficult for women to work. “More than once I saw my children with no food, no clothes,” she says. “I was deeply affected by this situation, and later on I learnt that I had diabetes. My responsibility doubled – I had to decide whether to buy food for my children or buy medicine for my illness.”
Fortunately for Jawharah and her children, with funding from Comic Relief, CARE intervened with a humanitarian project in Hodeidah governorate. CARE distributed cash assistance for vulnerable people directly affected by the ongoing conflict.
“The cash transfer assistance really saved my life,” says Jawharah. “With the cash I received I bought medicine for the coming months as well as food for my children. This helps to me to be able to see a future for our family.”
She concludes: “I hope to have sustainable income for my family because I can’t work outside my tent. I need help to survive in the midst of this cruel war.”