By: Ali Abdul Malik Al Shaibani
November 3, 2021

A strange era! Yes, it definitely is.

We, Yemenis, have never expected to experience such a strange era with all its painful and gruesome details that accompany us throughout the day, day in and day out; literally, none of us has ever thought that one day he/she would come across such a strange era.

It is an era in which concepts are being changed and peoples' essential and basic living needs have become almost nonexistent. Namely, it is the era of the damn war, national shattered identity and division that Yemen and Yemenis had never ever previously experienced.

It is an era in which knowledge is made absent and ignored, awareness of national unity is stepped upon and put on the back burner, commonly and widely accepted culture is crucified, and ignorance has become prevalent and running the show in the whole country.

When religious sectarian discourse is placed at the forefront, and the discourse of a national and unified state together with community peace are overshadowed by some trivial personal interests, we have no option whatsoever but to curse the day we found ourselves in this stained pre-state culture; simply put, it is an era that will never lead to building the country because it simply failed to feed and maintain the dignity of its highly trained and qualified engineers, teachers, university professors let alone its unprofessional and untrained ordinary citizens.

I must admit, I was overwhelmed with ample frustration and had a strong desire to cease to exist in this inhumane part of the world before I experience a dire need to beg anybody for financial support, so as to survive or reach the situation I experienced today which has never ever crossed my mind.

Please pardon me for not being able to use the appropriate description, contextual cohesion nor the right phrases to express my thoughts about the shock I experienced today; the incident I witnessed with my bare eyes today was way beyond my ability to handle or comprehend.

To make the long story short, I saw across the street, a young man who was in his early forties. He was carrying on his shoulder a child who was around 12 years old. The child seemed unable to move on his own or speak and saliva was all around his mouth.

This incident took place while I was together with some of my colleagues chatting and sipping some hot tea in a cafeteria near Kentucky Crossroads in Sana'a City. The young man walked towards us and then put the child down on the pavement nearby. I thought he was  taking a rest from carrying the child, but he approached us and started begging for help to get whatever money was possible or we could afford.

In the meantime, I put my palm on my mouth and was trying to figure out where I might have seen that familiar face before. While I was sadly thinking and my palm was still on my mouth, he suddenly and quickly asked whether I was engineer Ali Al-Shaibani.

- Surprised I replied, "yes, and said I also know you, but I do not remember where I have
   seen you before."

- He looked astonished and emphatically said, "come on engineer Ali! We worked
  together as engineering consultants for the Public Works Project; do not you remember?
  I am engineer (…)."

- I said, "yes, oh yes, I remember you now. What happened to you?"

- He simply replied, "my son is handicapped as you can see, do not have a job right now,
  have a lot of financial obligations to meet such as this ailing child, rent, food, clothing
  for my kids, etc.; there was no choice but to go out to the street and start begging to
  afford medication for this poor kid and feeding his other siblings."

Oh my Lord, a tragedy in the true sense of the word! I was totally shocked to hear what had become of this once a very bright young man and a competent engineer. Saddened by the whole scene, my colleagues and I gave him whatever we were able to afford at that time. Then, he carried his child and went on to ask those people who were sitting next to us in the cafeteria for help, too. It seemed that he no longer cared about what he was doing and that he has grown accustomed to begging without losing face when he meets people whom he knows since the old good days.

I could not stand the situation and what has become of many highly-qualified Yemeni professionals (i.e. engineers, medical doctors, university professors, teachers, etc.) during this bloody and damn war. Therefore, I asked my colleagues for permission to leave and went into an empty back street where I was able to shed some tears without being seen or heard by any passers-byes. In fact, I literally sobbed a lot, tried hard to withhold my tears and kept on walking until I reached the Public Works Project because visiting the place was on my plan for the day.

Today's unexpected incident reminded me of the importance of international funds such as the Public Works Project in providing consultancy services and helping us (engineers and others) to live decent lives, especially when it was receiving sufficient international financial support. The project created many job opportunities for engineering consultants, technicians and even a large number of contractors who were carrying out its projects compared with the rare and limited financial support it receives nowadays. This rare and limited financial support for the Public Works Project nowadays does not only negatively influence the lives of the engineers and technicians, but also the projects' huge number of laborers who make the biggest portion of beneficiaries.

Later that day, sadly I left the PWP heading home still with a severe pain in my aching heart. Upon arrival, I felt I was overburdened with all the worries and problems of the whole world, not just of our small world, Yemen. Once I was in the house, I went straight into my room, locked myself up, and literally cried out loud until I shed all the withheld tears without paying the slightest attention to the potential reactions of my family members.

What a sad day and a miserable and a dire situation to be part of day in and day out for about SEVEN BLOODY YEARS without having even a glimpse of hope to see some light at the end of the long and dark tunnel!