When the war began in 2014, I was in Tunisia for a journalism conference, with a group of other Yemenis. On the third day of the conference, I left my room and was horrified and heard the news. My Yemeni colleagues were all shocked and upset. I felt the same, shocked and upset for my family, and for entire country. I couldn’t attend any more meetings. I locked myself in my hotel room, following the news of the war and talking with my family.
The Yemeni embassy told us that we could not return to Yemen due to a ban on flights, which only made me feel worse. The news was so devastating that I fell into a state of depression. I spent a week in my hotel room, watching the news and sleeping.
After four months in Tunisia, I didn’t know what to do. Some of my friends were living in Egypt. Turkey was an option too, and a Yemeni TV channel had opened there. I opted for Egypt. But on the day I got my visa, the Yemeni embassy said they had found a way to get me and the other stranded Yemenis back to Yemen, via Jordan. I didn’t know what to do.
I decided to return to Yemen. I flew to Jordan, and waited two days for a flight to Yemen. On the way there, the plane landed in Saudi Arabia for an inspection. We waited there for almost three hours before taking off. Then, as the plane approached Sana’a airport, we were shocked to hear the captain’s voice. He said that we had to fly back towards Saudi Arabia, due to bombing in Sana’a and a no-fly zone. I cried thinking that after all this, I would not be able to go back home. We waited for two hours at the airport in Saudi Arabia before they told us that the ban on flights had been lifted. We were headed for Sana’a again.
Back in Sana’a, I sat at home for months. I couldn’t do my job as most media outlets had closed. Journalists were being arrested. After a year and a half of living through the war, I married a fellow journalist who had fled to Aden because he feared kidnapping. So many journalists were forcibly disappeared, so I moved to Aden too. I went back to journalism, working as a news editor. I joined the Association for the Mothers of Abductees in Aden, to demand the release of people who were taken by forces associated with the United Arab Emirates [part of the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen].
I lived in Aden for a year, but it became harder for my husband and I to do our job as journalists, and our lives were in danger.
Eventually we decided to move to the city of Marib. It has been four years, but I still haven't really adapted to life here.
The people planning and funding wars, devising aid plans, and trying to negotiate peace all too often fail to talk to the people living at the centre of it all.
Long before Gaza hit the headlines, the term “world’s worst humanitarian crisis” often referred to Yemen. Its devastating war and economic collapse, which began nine years ago, has left hundreds of thousands of people dead from violence, disease, starvation, and a lack of healthcare. Tens of millions more have been caught up in Yemen’s conflict, but its story has mostly been told by journalists, aid groups, and politicians. Until now.
What has it really been like to live through all this? To find out, The Yemen Listening Project asked Yemenis one question: “How has the war impacted your life?”
More than 100 Yemenis – from inside the country and across the world – answered. They sent emails and WhatsApp messages, voice notes, videos, poems, and pictures.
They include testimonies of loss, life in exile, and what it is like to live through bombing and ground battles. But there are also tales of love, family connection, and personal and professional persistence in the face of impossible-seeming obstacles.
When Yemen does make the news, it's too often reduced to faceless narratives. Close this window for a look into the lives behind the headlines, and to listen to Yemenis as they tell their stories, in their own words, in Arabic and English.
*The New Humanitarian cannot independently verify the details of each individual story. They have been edited for style, length, and clarity.
How did The Yemen Listening Project collect stories?
We asked people to submit their stories, in Arabic or English, on an online form, via email, Facebook, or a dedicated WhatsApp number. Once the submissions came in, we asked local journalists to gather stories from some parts of Yemen that were not yet well represented in the submissions.
Why wasn’t every story published?
Unfortunately, we did not have the space to publish every story, but we did read every entry.
Were the stories edited?
Stories were edited for style, length, and clarity. We did add a little context to some stories to help readers who are not familiar with Yemen’s war. Translations between languages are not always word for word.
What’s next for The Yemen Listening Project?
The Yemen Listening Project will be hosting online and in-person events about the project, about Yemen, and about inclusive journalism. Click here to receive updates.
I have an idea for my own listening project. Who should I contact?
Email yemenlistening@thenewhumanitarian.org with the subject line “listening project idea”. If we have enough takers, we will invite you to future workshops about what we have learned in the process of making The Yemen Listening Project, and help connect you with other people who are interested in the same things.Where can I learn more about Yemen?
Houthi rebels, officially called Ansar Allah, took over Yemen’s capital city of Sana’a in late 2014. In March 2015, a Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates-led coalition began bombing Houthi-controlled parts of the country, as part of a military campaign to support Yemen’s internationally recognised government.You can find all of The New Humanitarian’s coverage of Yemen’s war and humanitarian crisis here.
What is The New Humanitarian?
The New Humanitarian is a nonprofit newsroom that puts quality, independent journalism at the service of the millions of people affected by humanitarian crises around the world. We report from the heart of conflicts and disasters to inform prevention and response.
| Direction and editing: | Annie Slemrod |
| Project coordination: | Nuha al-Junaid |
| Translation: | Suha al-Junaid and Natakallam |
| Design and web development: | Marc Fehr |
| Audience production: | Whitney Patterson |
| Events: | Matt Crook |