The Houthi Militias turned schools into military barracks and warehouses to stock landmines and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in all regions occupied.
Villagers believe these methods were taken to destroy the education system in Yemen.
Al Shaab School in Jabal Habashi District in Taiz Governorate is one of the hundreds of schools that were damaged by Houthi landmines, effectively depriving hundreds of students of pursuing their education.
Maymouna Suleiman, a student at Al-Shaab School, told Project Masam how Houthi mines destroyed the dream of hundreds of her peers from continuing their education in the village of Akkad in Jabal Habashi.
“Our school was big and beautiful, and one morning we woke up to find our school destroyed and the classrooms levelled,” Suleiman said.
“My friends in the village of Akkad had to go to other areas far from their homes on foot, after half of their school was destroyed in order to continue their education, and most of them fully stopped studying.”
Maymouna hopes to complete her education and go to university to realise her dream of becoming an engineer.
Discussing her ambitions, Maymouna said: “I want to be an engineer to contribute to the rebuilding of my school that was destroyed by landmines and help the next generation of pupils to learn in big classrooms near their houses.”
About Masam’s humanitarian landmine clearance mission, Maymouna said that its demining teams have a life-saving role to play in the area.
“It is a dangerous work that could claim their lives, and they do this to secure my life and the lives of my peers in our school. However, we still feel afraid because of the presence of landmines near us. If one of the children goes out, mines can easily claim his life.”
