The war in Yemen has taken an extreme toll on the civilians caught in the middle of it. Many of them have lost their homes, their possessions, and even their loved ones to this violent conflict, with no end in sight. However, some things can never be taken away from them, and one such thing is their passion for art.
Take Maghrebi as an example; he was forced to flee his home when it was destroyed by shelling, and ended up inside a displacement camp in Aden city along with hundreds of other civilians who are also suffering from the consequences of this interminable war.
Maghrebi fled Hudaydah four years ago when his friend was killed and he was almost forced to join the fighting. He learned how to paint by watching his father, an artist, and draw. He hopes one day to make a living from art.
YPN team had a visit to Ammar Bin Yasi Camp for internal displaced people during an official coverage for OCHA. The camp is a small school where the classes became everything for those people. They eat, sleep and cook inside these classes. As a consequences, children who used to go to school had to find another alternatives and many of them had to accept the difficult option which is walking for hours to reach the nearest school.
We met Maghrebi who had many stories and one of them was his rejection to join the fight in the frontline and displaced with his family to Aden city leaving all of his memories including his paintings behind him.
Maghrebi loves drawing and he is very good at it. A talented young person who found himself in the middle of displacements and hard live conditions. He never thought that one day he will seek to make living from his talent. He is being forced to do this because it is the only option remains.
We need to support Maghrebi at this. He refused begging and want to live a normal life with dignity.
Maghrebi is just an example about how the war in Yemen transformed people’s lives and forced them to accept the consequences.