“We will never give up hope”

One day, fighting broke in Abdo’s village, and the family got caught between two warring parties. They were trapped inside their home for days. As food and water ran out, Abdo thought it was unwise to stay any longer. “We had to make a difficult decision to either stay home and experience hunger and death or flee to the unknown and leave everything behind,” he says. Eventually, the family made their way to Marib Al Wadi, a district in Yemen’s northeastern province of Marib, seeking refuge in Alkwlah IDP camp.

When he reached Marib, Abdo started to look for work in the surrounding farms. However, the influx of large numbers of IDPs into Marib put an additional burden on resources and infrastructure in hosting communities. “Landlords here prefer to farm their lands by themselves,” says Abdo, “now I do simple work for a small daily wage, yet it is not enough to sustain my family.”

He adds; “I have been displaced for nearly four years. When we fled our home in Ibb, my youngest child Eyad was a newly born infant. Due to the high temperature here, Eyad got meningococcemia, which has affected his ability to hear and speak.”

Fortunately for Abdo’s family and other displaced families in Marib Al Wadi, with funding from UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), CARE has worked to rehabilitate water and sewage networks in Alkwlah camp. Through cash-for-work activities, displaced people living in the camp have been able to improve much-needed water and sanitation services, while at the same time earning a monthly wage of 62$ to buy food, medicine and other essentials.

“With the money I earned, I bought new clothes for my children for the first time in a very long time. Also, I will enroll my older daughter in school, so she can complete her education and have a better future. Thanks to CARE, we are grateful for the assistance and we will never give up hope,” he concludes.