Taizz, Yemen – In a forgotten camp southwest of Taizz, Saeeda Mohammed’s day doesn’t begin with searching for bread or flour. Instead, it begins with collecting leaves.
The 65-year-old Yemeni woman washes the leaves of “Halas,” a local tree whose leaves are boiled during times of severe hunger. Next, she puts them on the fire, trying to silence the hunger of her six grandchildren. She does this after aid dried up and the conflict dragged on.
Here, the leaves that grow around the camp have become a staple food, not because they are filling. Instead, they have become a staple because they are the only available food.
Collecting leaves
Saida and her family live without enough food, and without basic necessities like flour and sugar. She says that necessity drove her to collect tree leaves, boil them, and give them to the children to alleviate their hunger. This happened after aid disappeared and livelihoods were cut off.
On a simple plate, Saeeda and her grandchildren gather around whatever food is available. Children eat in silence, and a woman watches them with eyes worn down by helplessness before hunger.
Saida says the children go to sleep hungry and cry for food, and all she can offer them are these papers. This is a meal that temporarily alleviates their hunger. However, it leaves behind pain and health problems.
She adds that the children haven’t tasted meat in so long that they’ve almost forgotten what it tastes like. Days and weeks go by without anything reaching them.
In the Al-Munaij camp, Saeeda’s story is not an isolated case. According to a representative of the camp, malnutrition is widespread among dozens of children and women. Among these women are pregnant and breastfeeding mothers who cannot find enough to feed themselves or their children.
More than 35 children and over 45 women are suffering from malnutrition. In this reality, leaves become a staple food for many, not just a passing option.
Scenes from the camp reveal the extent of the isolation and the harshness of reality. There are scattered tents, primitive dwellings, and families waiting for aid that never arrives.
Local officials attribute the worsening crisis to a decline in humanitarian funding for Yemen. They also assert that the food rations currently available cover only a small fraction of the needs.
According to the camp manager in Al-Ma’afer district, the recently allocated food aid is less than a quarter of last year’s target. As a result, this situation leaves thousands of displaced people with dire choices.
Amidst hastily washed papers and makeshift fires, Saeeda encapsulates the story of thousands of displaced people: hunger is ever-present, aid is absent, and children wait for a meal that never comes. In Taiz, the tragedy is no longer measured solely by what people have lost due to the war. Now, it is also measured by what they have been forced to eat to survive.
