In a factory for the production of blocks (a type of building stone, made from cement), in an area in Lahj Governorate (southern Yemen), Shawqi Hofaizi (28 years old) spends most of his daytime hours in manufacturing the building bricks, in a daily program that he has been following for eight years, in order to earn a living and support his family of six members.
It is a tiring process that starts from seven in the morning and ends at six in the evening, he sweats under the bright sun to produce about 400 of flat building bricks locally known as "block", to return at the end of the day with ten thousand riyals to his home.
Al-Hofaizi told "Khuyut" that he works in the "construction bricks" business due to the lack of other job opportunities, pointing to the hardship of working in this profession, which consumes a lot of effort and time, as it goes through several stages; starting with collecting the raw materials "sand" and "crushed stones" and mixed them with cement, and mixing the concrete materials several times before placing them in the brick making machine.
Yemeni workers in construction, building, and various businesses in the economic, service and production sectors write inspiring stories of struggle, in which they face difficulties and challenges that exceed their capabilities to bear. Such challenges are not limited to impacts of war and the consequences of conflict, high prices, and financial and monetary division. Khuyut investigated this by highlighting the suffering of group of labors working in the field of construction, manufacturing and producing bricks and cutting (cutting and trimming) stones.
Hard efforts
The number of bricks that can be made from one bag of cement (50 kilograms) is estimated between (30-40) bricks, as this worker consumes about ten bags of cement per day. However, the daily wage he earns from his work in the brick factory, he spends it on his daily expenses of food, meals and other requirements related to work, which does not allow him to provide adequate money to cover the needs of his family.
Cutting stones (cutting and trimming) with a hand tool or an electric saw) is a profession in which Hajj Mahmoud Al-Mashwali excelled for more than 40 years ago, in Al-Barh area (west of Taiz governorate), and it is the profession that represents his main source of income during the years of war and conflict in Yemen that reach nine years.
His fellow worker, Mohammad Juhayma - who works in the same factory and is from the city of Hodeida - shares his sorrow over the loss of his effort in working in the "brick" industry, where exchange companies deduct exorbitant fees when transferring any amount to his family. Due to the exchange difference between Al-Hodeida Governorate (northwestern Yemen), which is under the control of the Houthis, and Lahj in southern Yemen, which is under the internationally recognized government, which makes his task difficult to save as much money as possible in order to send it to his family in Zabid, Al-Hodeida.
Juhayma said that since his arrival in the last ten years, he has only worked in the profession of making bricks, although he could not save any amount from this career except his daily expenses. As the financial return depends on the size of the achievement, in addition to the frequent ceasing of the work on some days of the week; due to the deteriorating economic conditions that the country is going through which have limited people's purchasing power. He believes that the people has begun to focus on the basic priorities of living. What exacerbated Juhayma's suffering is the incredible wire transfer fees, as exchange companies take half of the transferred amount as a commission in return for the transfer, which wastes his labor to provide for the needs of his family in Hodeida.
The official data of the Central Statistical Organization, which "Khuyut" reviewed, estimates that there are about four million workers in informal sectors and business in Yemen, of whom 75% work in the non-governmental sector.
Stone trimming
Cutting stones (cutting and trimming) with a hand tool or an electric saw) is a profession in which Hajj Mahmoud Al-Mashwali excelled for more than 40 years ago, in Al-Barh area (west of Taiz governorate), and it is the profession that represents his main source of income during the years of war and conflict in Yemen that reach nine years.
With his advancing age, the situation worsened for al-Mashwali, as he was in his late sixties, so that his sixty-year-old body was exhausted let alone the various health problems that weakened him. However, he clings to this profession (the “trimming” of building stones) from which he survives, as he believes it is the only option to support his family. He assured Khuyut that his ability to work, earn and live from this career was affected by the ruggedness of the area where he lives which weakened his ability to improve his financial situation.
Al-Mashwali only finishes ten stones a day, as he spends his day trimming them, which is a hard and not easy job, as he says, and the trimming process is done according to certain measurements before it is ready to be sold to customers who come from the areas of Al-Waziyah and Al-Shamayteen in Taiz, and from different areas in Lahj Governorate.
While the worker, Ali Haza'a, stated that he was stuck that he was no longer able to leave this profession and go to other places, due to the decline in the job opportunities, and the failure of the other jobs to meet the requirements of his family. Thus, he took the occupation of stone trimming and leveling as the possible source of living to earn his income under the current difficult economic conditions.
Haza'a confirmed to "Khuyut" that working in this business is a very difficult in addition to the likely risks and troubles associated with it in light of the scarcity of financial gains. He added that poverty and unemployment played a major role in the decline in the demand for this product, and people are thinking about providing the essential living needs for families to survive.
