Between the school and the workshop of her father, who was killed in an air strike six years ago, the 12-year-old girl Rabia Saif, from a village in the Al-Mocha district, in Taiz Governorate (southwest of the country), spends with her younger brothers, as well as her cousins, after the death of her uncle in a traffic accident years ago - her day at school and hard work fixing motorcycles and cleaning cars.
Rabia begins her day early in the morning by opening the shop to receive her clients who wish to repair and maintain their broken bicycles before she leaves for her school, before eight am where she studies in the sixth grade of the basic education. After she leaves, some of her brothers and cousins who go to school in the afternoon take over her place. The store closes when the children go to school at noon, so Rabia returns to open it in the afternoon, and she closes it with the onset of darkness after a hard day of exhausting work.
In this way, and in this profession, which does not suit her age and nature, Rabia spends much of her time in a profession that was never of her choice. Rather, she was prompted by the conditions of poverty, orphanhood, and the lack of a stable income from which she and her large family could live in a turbulent region and the conflict that did not end. The shop is supervised by her paternal grandmother, as well as Rabia and her siblings and cousins who work with her in the shop.
Rabia told "Khuyut" that working in a bicycle repair shop fulfills some of the needs for her, her siblings, and her cousins that they depend on in managing their harsh lives. Given that the motorcycle maintenance profession is the only profession within their reach and contributes to providing their requirements at home and at school. While their grandmother, in addition to supervising them, is busy grazing sheep in the valleys after the family lost its breadwinner in the war. This grandmother's profession, in addition to the shop's revenue, contributes to covering some of the household's needs."
The shop, which is originally a “Puncture” for inflating tires with air, is located on the main line leading to the city of Mocha. Therefore, car and bike owners deal frequently with it because of the various services provided by the shop, such as cleaning and light maintenance. The clients are admire of the children struggle so they always say encouragement words for the girl, her siblings and cousins for their efforts to earn a decent living.
Regarding the difficulties that she faces in working in this profession, Rabia says: "The most prominent difficulties - other than the work pressure that reduces the margin of her time to review her lessons - is the high costs of materials due to the high prices, which forces her to raise the prices of services to confront this problem, and this increase reduces the demand for services of their shop".
Rabia’s every wish is for her brothers to grow up and take over work with her cousins in the shop, so that they can support the family, while she is busy with housework and completing her studies. She is hoping that she will find with her brothers and cousins special support that will relieve them of the burden and hardships of life.
However, the work of Rabia and her brothers and cousins in the puncture shop, repairing bicycles and cleaning cars is part of the child labor that was produced by the conditions of the war. A report by the International Labor Organization estimates that 4 million Yemeni children are deprived of their most basic rights, and that 34% of these children work, between the ages of (5-17) years. At a time when the UNICEF Regional Director in the Middle East and North Africa says that there are 2,700 children recruited to fight in the war with adult fighters. In an investigation carried out by the international organization, it was revealed that more than 6,700 children were killed or seriously injured, and about 1.5 million children were forced to flee from their areas of origin to other areas.
The international organization indicated that 7 million children go to sleep hungry every night, and every day 400,000 children face the risk of acute malnutrition, and are at risk of death at any moment. Additionally, more than two million children do not go to school, and those who do go to school are faced with poor quality education in overcrowded classrooms.
