Reflections from my recent trip to southern Yemen

Yemen is a country blessed with kind people, a rich culture and history, and incredible food. It also carries tremendous poverty and need. 

I just spent a week in the south of the country, visiting IRC programs and meeting Yemenis who are benefiting from these services. 

As one of the most overlooked countries in the region, it was striking to see how Yemenis have continued to adapt and survive through repeated waves of conflict, progress, and setback. That spirit was easy to find, sometimes in the middle of a busy day at a health clinic, sometimes in a woman’s hands as she showed me a skill she’d turned into a livelihood.

In Lahj, I visited a women’s center that nurtures the talents of Yemeni women and gives them the tools to grow those talents into sustainable, income-generating businesses. It wasn’t my first time in Yemen, so I wasn’t surprised when the artist Mona took my hand and began drawing henna designs on it. Through this IRC-supported center, Mona now offers free workshops teaching other women to design and draw henna for a living.

Photo: Basma Alloush for the IRC

In Al Mokha, I visited three health facilities, including a women’s care center run by midwives who work more than twelve hours a day, driven by love and a deep sense of duty to their community. These midwives are the unsung heroes of Yemen. In many cases, they are the only reason mothers and babies survive.

Huda, a midwife at Al Sahira health center, supported by the European Union’s Humanitarian Aid, described it this way: “People come here from all the neighboring towns. Pregnant women walk under the scorching sun for over thirty minutes on dirt roads just to reach this facility. 

“Elderly people and children arrive wanting paracetamol or a quick fix, but we see this as an opportunity to assess children for malnutrition, educate mothers on infant care, and test for diabetes and hypertension. If we spot an issue, we create a treatment plan. Our facility is the only source of free and reliable care for many.”

Inside an IRC health facility in Al Mokha, southern Yemen.

Photo: Basma Alloush for the IRC

Yemen no longer makes headlines, and it is easy for the world to forget. The impact of funding cuts is visible everywhere. However, a little support goes a long way in Yemen. I saw it in Mona’s henna designs, in Huda’s twelve-hour days, in every clinic still running despite the odds. The Yemeni people keep building, healing, and creating even as the world looks elsewhere. They deserve more attention than they get, and they deserve our support. 

Photo: Basma Alloush for the IRC