The vast majority of the dark-skinned groups, who have recently come to be called “marginalized people,” still live in shacks made of tin, small stones, and car tires. They live in flood drains and the outskirts of cities, and their homes lack the most basic home facilities.
In fact, they cannot buy their own homes, nor do they have enough money or source of income to buy land and build livable housing. It seems as if society has decided that they do not have the right to own real estate, as it is not easy for black people in Yemen to own homes due to the systematic discrimination that has been practiced against this group for decades.
Abdu Ghaleb Al-Zari’i, one of the beneficiaries of the Al-Wafa City “Residential City” project in the Al-Ba'arara area, the city of Taiz, southwest of Yemen, works for a charitable organization’s school in this residential city to teach children, women and girls how to read and write. Al-Zarii told Khuyut: “We are making great efforts to encourage the men and women of this group to be enrolled in eradicating illiteracy program and in some other educational aspects, and we hope to expand this". He hoped.
During the past years, three residential cities were built for the marginalized people in Yemen; Sa'awan Residential City in the capital Sana'a, which contains (2,250) housing units, and in Taiz, a French organization built a residential city that includes 96 housing units, in addition to Al-Wafa City in Al-Ba'arara area, downtown Taiz, which accommodates 244 housing units that were built with funding from the World Bank.
The head of the Development for Inclusion Association and the official spokesman for the National Union for the Poorest “Marginalized” group, Abdulghani Aklan, stated in an interview with “Khuyut” that the total number of beneficiaries from the three residential cities is (14,800) people only.
That is a very small percentage of the total number of “marginalized” people in Yemen, which is estimated at more than 3 million people. According to Aklan, the vast majority of them still live in small huts and need to build housing that protects them from the heat of the sun, rains and the cold, and encourage their children to join schools like the rest of Yemeni children.
It has been proven from experience that residential cities have significantly contributed to motivating children towards education and enrolling in schools as well as reducing the dropout rate among marginalized children, especially when these cities are close to educational facilities and government schools.
Aklan added that children's interest in education before moving to the residential city in the Ba'arara area in Taiz was very low, and there was a very small percentage of children who were proficient in reading and writing while the majority were outside the educational process. In addition, the government does not have any plans to enroll marginalized children in schools, instead, they are treated as marginalized and deprived of all civil rights.
Rushing to schools
The lack of educational facilities among or close to the “marginalized” communities, as they usually live in isolated areas far from service facilities, has had a negative impact on the dark-skinned children access to schools, as education in their residential communities remains one of the most significant challenges they face.
Fawzi Mahyoob, a human rights activist from the “Marginalized” group, told “Khuyut” that: There is a noticeable decline in the level of education within the informal residential communities of the “marginalized” groups who suffer from neglect and marginalization by the concerned authorities and organizations working in this field, while education is the basis of development and the only way out for their social integration. "
Moreover, Mahyoob added that the availability of suitable housing is a 100% key motivator for schooling. It is undoubtedly that appropriate residence is considered one of the most important basic factors for academic achievement, as it helps the learners to focus while studying and persevere in education.
“After the marginalized moved to the new residential city, parents became aware of education and pushed their children to schools. As a result, the number of children enrolled in education last year 2022, reached approximately 72 male and female students in the primary, middle and secondary levels, most of them in Ja'afar School and Al-Ihsan School in the City of Al-Nour." Mahyoob concluded.
Ghassan Saeed Murshid, the Aqel of the “Al-Wafa” residential city, confirmed to “Khuyut” that 80% of parents have become keen on educating their children and continuing their learning. He pointed out that there is a noticeable positive change and a strong desire among the marginalized to join school classes, as many difficulties and challenges have been overcome after moving to the residential city.
Ghassan looks forward to the increase in the number of male and female students enrolled in schools each year more than the year before, especially since there are some charitable organizations that provide part of the educational supplies to support the poorest and neediest children as much as possible, noting that some families enrolled their children in private schools outside the residential city.
For her part, Hoda Al-Sharmani, director of the Ja'afar School, located in the Al-Nour neighborhood near the residential city for the marginalized, stressed in her interview with “Khuyut” on the positive impact of residential cities on children’s rush to education and enrollment in schools and reducing the dropout rate among children especially when these cities are close to educational facilities and government schools. Al-Sharmani pointed out that more than 35% of the children enrolled in school live in the residential city located in Al-Ba'arara area, as well as in the city of “Al-Nour,” and this is a key indicator of the role of residential cities in stimulating the education of marginalized children.
The significance of social integration
In this context, social activist Mona Al-Jamal, head of a feminist organization in the city of Sa'awan in the capital Sana’a, told “Khuyut” that establishing residential cities for the marginalized have become an urgent necessity, and an essential motivating factor for enrolling in schools, as parents feel the necessity of sending their children to schools as long as safe and decent house is available for human residence.
Mona concluded her speech by emphasizing that owning suitable homes contributes to changing the social point of view towards children of the marginalized group, as well as towards male and female students in schools.
Thus, it becomes easy to obtain birth certificates and identification documents for marginalized fathers and mothers, because they now enjoy official address for a person, and thus a large part of the difficulties and problems they faced before are resolved.
