Mohamed Mahmoud Nasser Akish and his wife Aisha Ismail Ali Muhaim wished to share their story.
“I was living in Al-Dinnin (Ta’iz province) when they forced us to flee,” Mohammed said. “During our displacement, we rode a three-wheeled motorcycle. I had eight children with me. They detonated us with a mine. Some flew over the trees, others under the trees and my wife suffered a spinal fracture. My little girl (got) stuck up in the tree and got shrapnel in her back.”
Mohammed explained all his children were left with “three or four” fractures in their legs. Aisha and the children were taken to Aden’s Al-Buraihi Hospital by ambulance. “They put a metal mesh in my wife’s back and another in the legs, and treated my children.”
Mohammed was told to return to hospital after a month, but his wife’s back was not healing. “She is unable to move,” he said.
“I am a labourer, I cannot afford transportation or buses fees. I do not have means for treatment, not even the food of the day. I hope her to heal, walk and be able to feed my children. This is all what I wish for.”
Unfortunately, Yemen’s roads and tracks are fraught with the threat of landmines, unexploded ordnance and improvised explosive devices.
For many Yemenis in liberated areas, however, Project Masam represents a ray of hope. Since mid-2018 when the programme launched, Project Masam has cleared 246,866 explosive devices (as at 12 May 2021). Masam ensures it is safe for civilians to return to their homes.
