Like every child in the world, seven-year-old Ahmed Salem Salahum eagerly waited for the morning to play. He loved spending time with his classmates and friends in his village after returning from school.
But young Ahmed also used to hear warnings from his parents and teachers in the classroom about landmines. With anxious-ridden faces, they would describe them as “deadly”. The little boy listened attentively, but soon his childhood was uprooted.
The family was forced to flee their village because of the presence of landmines, and the children were told not to play outside.
Ahmed told Project Masam it was hard for him to understand, saying: “I love my school and I love playing with my friends and I cannot live without them. I do not know why mines deprive us of playing, I did not do anything to be locked up at home unable to see my friends and have fun with them, this makes me very sad.”
Against the warnings, Ahmed and displaced children he met decided to go and play. The seven-year old’s life changed forever.
“I was playing happily with my friends near the tent that my father set up for us after we left our house for fear of landmines. Suddenly, everything was flying around me, my ball disappeared among the clouds of dust and I no longer saw my friends. I felt a great pain that almost killed me and then I lost consciousness,” the young boy said before falling silent.
He then added: “Because of this accident, I lost my leg and became unable to walk except with great difficulty. I can no longer go to school or even play with my friends.”
Young lives changed
The whole family now shared Ahmed’s emotional and physical pain. His father told Project Masam: “How sad I am to see my only child in this condition. I feel great pain to see Ahmed suffering like that.
“He is a little child who does not know anything about the misfortunes and troubles of life. It really breaks my heart to see him unable to walk, play and study like his companions and the rest of the world’s children. What is the guilt of Ahmed and the rest of Yemen’s children, who are targeted by mines, to have such a harsh fate?”
Today, Ahmed has learned how to live with the consequences of the tragic accident. He explained how he suffers great pain – not only because of his amputation, but also because he is now unable to walk to and attend school, and play with his friends life before.
This situation has prompted Ahmed’s father to appeal fo relevant authorities to put an end to his son’s suffering.
“I hope that officials and humanitarian organisations help my child so that he can walk again. Ahmed loves life and studying, and he is like the other children in the world who love to play and have fun. Being deprived of his right to play and study makes him so sad. He needs help in order to go on with his life and return to his school with the least damage, as this would greatly relieve him of much of his suffering.”
As for Ahmed, who seemed to agree with his father’s pleas, he showed how he gets by – leaning on his crutch. As we followed the pair, a group of children playing football crowded around Ahmed, and showed him how they can jump on one leg – making him laugh – as if to say, “Don’t worry, we can still all play, you have your place among us”.
