KIND-HEARTED OMANI PARTNERS WITH CHARITY FOR 6TH AID CONSIGNMENT TO YEMEN

Nasr Al Jadhamy, who has been collecting aid needed by civilians who have suffered from the conflict, has partnered with the Oman Charity Organisation to ensure his goods reach those who truly need them

Times News Service

MUSCAT: A kind-hearted Omani man is planning to make his sixth aid trip to help those affected by the conflict in Yemen, having teamed up with the government of the Sultanate to do so.

Nasr Al Jadhamy, who has been collecting food, clothes and other aid that is needed by civilians who have suffered from the conflict in Oman’s south-western neighbour, has partnered with the Oman Charity Organisation to ensure his goods reach those who truly need them.

A total of almost 50,000 children under the age of five are believed to have died in Yemen in 2017 due to disease and hunger, and unfortunately, a similar number is expected this year as well.

“I was dealing with the government of Oman, and they have advised me not to go now, and the items that we have sent are now going to be sent through Al Hayya Al Ammar, an Omani organisation, and this is the first time we are working with them to send items to Yemen,” he told Times of Oman.

“This is not like other trips. Officially, we will go from here to Yemen through the Omani Charity Organisation.”

“I didn’t want to give it to anyone else, but only trusted partners, because otherwise I don’t know where these goods will end up, or who will get them, finally,” added Al Jadhamy. “The good news is that the charity organisation that they are dealing with and the one I am dealing with in Yemen are partners, so it was good for us to work together. I explained my story, and all of these charities are going to work together.”

“When I reach Yemen, we will work together and distribute together,” he said.

“We have begun collecting, and by the grace of God, before December, we will be able to confirm all the things we will be sending. The charity organisation needs to know exactly what we are sending.”

The fighting has left 6,800 civilians dead and more than 10,000 injured.

The country’s GDP has dropped by half since 2015, and more than 600,000 jobs have been lost, as 80 per cent of the population lives below the poverty line.

“I have one container of food items that is nearly 40 tonnes and two containers of clothes, which includes 5,000 sweaters for the children,” said Al Jadhamy.

“This is what I have so far. This time, if I am sending five trucks, I am going be sending 45 tonnes in each truck. We are starting to prepare for the next journey and we are planning to go there in December. We are expecting things to be much better.

“It is really cold right now, which is why we have 5,000 sweaters, as well as more than 3,000 blankets that will be sent there.”

“We will be travelling by road this time, because last time we travelled by air from Muscat to Sudan, and from there to Seiyoun in the Hadhramawt Governorate, but that airport has now been closed,” he added

“We therefore have no choice but to go by road from Muscat to Salalah and then to the Yemeni border. This is how I did it the first time.”

According to the World Health Organisation, 1.2 million cases of cholera have been either suspected or confirmed in Yemen since April 2017.

That includes 154,000 cases this year, at the least, and Nasr has encouraged people to continue to donate towards their brothers and sisters across the border in Yemen, and asked them to only provide goods that are clean and useable.

“My advice is to send goods through the proper channel, and I advise the people to deal directly with us and not to go anywhere else, because we are dealing with Al Hayya Al Ammar charity organisation, which is a government charity organisation,” he said.

“People are requested to give whatever they need to give to me, and then I will check it and give it to them, because they need to check if all the items are clean and proper.”

“When I was sending by myself, I was taking good quality and medium quality goods, but when you are dealing with the government, they are only asking for things that are new and good, because they are representing the country and you need to only send good things in that case,” added Al Jadhamy.