COMMUNITY SPIRIT PAVES WAY FOR NEW YEMEN ROAD PLAN
▶ Project to connect remote inland villages with vital services launched after several fatal crashes
In 2011, Samira Al Shalafi, 27, embarked on a journey most young pregnant women expect to end with their newborn in their arms.
But the ambulance taking Ms Al Shalafi from her hometown of Al Amarah, Yemen, to the nearest hospital took too long.
After more than two-and-ahalf hours in labour in the back of the ambulance, she reached the hospital but died giving birth to her first child, Faisal.
“Under heavy rain, the 38km trip took double the time, at least two-and-a-half-hours, traversing the steep, mountainous terrain. It was too much for her weak body,” Ms Al Shalafi’s mother, who raised Faisal, told The National.
The road was the only route connecting Ms Al Shalafi’s home, the rural area of Al Amarah, with the city of Al Udayn, in the inland governate of Ibb in the south of Yemen.
More than 100 people have died in about 70 accidents on the road to Al Udayn, which hosts the nearest hospital to Al Amarah.
“I lost my father, my cousin and a friend when the car overturned from the top of the mountain as the driver tried to avoid the pits caused by floods,” Al Amarah resident Ibrahim Abdo Qaed, 19, told The National.
The rural district has a growing population of 12,000, up from about 3,200 listed in the last official census in 2004. For years, they faced a perilous journey across poorly kept mountain roads to access essential services in Al Udayn.
This is why Mr Abdo Qaed volunteered for an initiative to build a road connecting their remote village to Al Udayn city.
The project was launched in 2016 by Friends of Nasser Al Majidi.
Inspired by Ms Al Shalafi’s death, this humanitarian, community-driven effort to improve living conditions was first suggested by Aly Al Amrany in 2011 but was created years later by Mr Al Majidi, a Yemeni citizen living in Saudi Arabia.
“The lack of services, the high cost of living, the dropout of girls from education, and youth migration underline the urgent need to improve infrastructure,” Mr Al Majidi told The National.
Mr Abdo Qaed said: “Our region is neglected because it is far from the urban capital.”
The war in Yemen has also exacerbated the needs of locals since the Houthi rebels took over the capital Sanaa in 2014.
The Houthis have controlled Ibb province since 2015, according to the European Council of Foreign Relations.
While Ibb has not experienced major battles since then, there has been an increase in levels of violence around Ibb city and its eastern districts while under Houthi control, according to crisis mapping project ACLED.
There were about 1.9 million people in need of assistance in Ibb, or about 57 per cent of the population, as of December last year, according to the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
The Friends of Nasser Al Majidi road project has been vital to many. About 2.25km of the 6.25km road has been paved so far at a cost of 175 million Yemeni riyals ($700,000), said Mr Al Majidi.
“The paving continues whenever sufficient donations are collected,” he said.
Within three months of starting a WhatsApp group for the project, 300 members had joined.
“We formed a management team of 12 people elected by the citizens of the village, and were able to implement the project with the expert consultation of road engineers,” Mr Al Majidi said.
The goal was to link the three governorates of Ibb, Taiz and Al Hudaydah. The road would join Shara’b Al Salam in Taiz, to Al Adain, Al Amarah, Al Shalif and Al Sarra in Ibb.
Local authorities are also backing the project.
“We fully support these community initiatives that support the state as it struggles under the shadow of the war,” Ibrahim Al Shami, Ibb’s director of public works and transport, told The National.
While local authorities have not contributed to the construction, Mr Al Shami’s team of engineers have played a supervisory role for quality control.
“Despite the difficulty of working in this mountainous environment, the road they built abides by all safety standards,” said Mr Al Shami.
Mr Abdo Qaed said volunteering to build the road was partly to honour the memory of those who have died.
For some women in the community, the road was a tribute to the memory of their loved ones, such as the wife and daughter of Mr Abdo Qaed’s father.
Asmaa Mohammed, 18, was grateful for the project that allowed her to go back to school.
“I stopped going to school in seventh grade because it was too far and the cost of transportation was very high,” she said.
“The impact of this road is huge,” lawyer and resident Somaya Al Amrany said.
“This is only the beginning,” she added. “These vital services are simply too far away.”
About 2.25km of the 6.25km road has been paved so far, with more than 300 people involved in the iniative