"The small amount that (Natheer) used to send while he was an immigrant, hardly meets our daily basic need but was not sufficient, because work in the village is difficult and seasonal. The war robbed our husbands' livelihood in their home cities, and the misery reached us in the countryside"; With these words, Kefaya began her talk about the suffering of rural women in the shadow of the war.
The rural life of Kifaya Hammoud was deteriorated, after her husband returned from his migration, they lost their sole source of livelihood, which was providing her and their children with a kind of decent life. Her husband left the city of Hodeidah where he was working, due to the intensification of the war and the displacement of thousands, and he preferred to return to his village in Taiz Governorate, where his family lives.
Kefaya said to "Khuyut": "As every rural woman, our suffering has exacerbated and our concerns increased. Rural women in Yemen bear countless concerns, in addition to the marginalization and injustice they experienced before the war which have even aggravated so that they have been deprived of many opportunities and rights.
International Occasion
Every year on October 15, the world celebrates the International Day of Rural Women, as a kind of recognition of the pivotal role of rural women and their great efforts in serving both thier land and human beings, as rural women represent a large proportion of the agricultural workforce. In addition to doing the bulk of unpaid home work within the family, they are making a significant contribution to agricultural production and land management.
At a time when the world celebrates this day, women in the Yemeni countryside are facing difficult conditions in light of the fierce war that made them suffer twice the distress experienced by women in cities in terms of; the high cost of living, the loss of loved ones on the battlefronts, the emigration of many Yemeni men in search of livelihood outside the country, crises and the deterioration of services, such as education, health, and others.
The events of the novel “I wish he did not return” are repeated in the life of rural women during the war. The only difference is that the village woman receives corpses of her loved ones coming from the battle fronts, and many of them did not even receive the corpses, as many rural people leave to the battle fronts in search of a salary that save their lives and their children from hunger and poverty, and when they do not return - which is often the case - women in the countryside find themselves in charge of and breadwinners for their families; an extra burden over their shoulders.
Fatima (an alias name) is a rural woman who lives in the countryside of Taiz governorate, told "Khuyut" that she suffers greatly in providing a bottle of cooking gas to relieve her of the hardship of cooking food on firewood, as she was forced on one occasion to shout at the gas seller to take her suffering seriously and her inability to stand in long queue until she reaches her turn to get gas cylinder.
Many women, other than Fatima, struggle to obtain domestic cooking gas, and Fatima notes that every time she consumes all her firewood, she has to wait long time until the gas comes to the village, so that the house of her neighbors is a lifeline for her family from hunger.
Hardships of living
Rural women carry out work that requires great effort, sometimes exceeding their physical capabilities, especially with regard to carrying wood, fodder, agricultural crops, water gallons and gas cylinders, in addition to carrying foodstuffs from the main markets to villages and homes. Moreover, they are participating with men in the construction and repair works; carrying and breaking stones, transferring the construction materials such as wood, windows and doors, especially in rough roads areas.
Group of women from the countryside of As-Silw district, told "Khuyut", that they walk more than 6 kilometers, carrying water on their heads, until they reach their homes.
One of the biggest problems encountering the rural Yemen is the lack of water and drought. The rural population suffers from drought and the lack of water projects. Therefore, their only means of obtaining water is to store rainwater or travel in search of clean and safe water. Women in these areas are responsible for bringing water to homes mainly in all the rural areas of the country.
Samira Nasher (29 years old), told "Khuyut", that she leaves her home at three in the morning, accompanied by her female friends and neighbors, to a water well located about four kilometers away from her village, passing through dangerous roads and other risks like the stray dogs and poisonous insects that they encounter at the crossroads of the road leading to the well.
Samira confirms that they leave early, so that she and her friends can have water before crowds of women from the nearby drought-stricken villages flock to that well.
Poverty and decline of agriculture
In addition, a female farmer in the Zabid district of Hodeidah governorate - who preferred not to be named - explains to "Khuyut", how rural women were making great efforts in caring for the land and raising livestock so that family members benefit from dairy and meat products. However, the war caused the decline of these activities along with the high prices of fertilizers and pesticides needed by farmers, and the high price of oil derivatives that operate water pumps; this led to a deterioration in the land's production of fodder, which is the main food for livestock.
For her part, Somaya Ali, complained about the high prices of food stuff in her village located in the countryside of Taiz, saying: "the price of laban exceeded 500 riyals, the price of an egg reached 150 riyals, and a bag of Thai rice (50 kilograms) (the cheapest type of rice) reached 45,000 riyals, and about 50 thousand riyals the price of a bag of sugar (50 kilograms).”She adds that the rural population suffers more from the cost of living; due to the lack of suitable sources of income to help them face this high price hikes.
War Victims
Activist and media figure, Wedad El-Badawy, told "Khuyut" that women in the countryside have been victims of the war, either directly or indirectly. And if they are not murdered, they live in a state of anxiety and fear for their husbands and children, which exposes them to diseases, such as stress, heart disease and other diseases. She added that "women in the countryside are under severe pressure due to the war; displacement from the cities has made women bear the burdens of poor services, while the warring parties have proven that they are similar to each other in terms of their vision towards women's issues in general."
Many women in rural areas, which witnessed military confrontations of the conflicting parties, were victims of the remnants of the confrontations and the explosion of mines or the fall of shells on their homes or agricultural terraces while rural people are practicing their agricultural activities.
The suffering of rural women in Yemen has greatly increased, in light of the war, as a result of the transformation of many Yemeni countryside into conflicting areas, where rural women are no longer able to engage in agricultural activities or raise livestock.
Economic researcher, Nabil Al-Sharabi told Khuyut that the suffering includes even those who educated women, who have struggled and obtained university degrees, and joined the teaching field, however, their suffering increased due to the interruption of the salaries.
He asserts that everyone in the Yemeni rural areas, men and women, has been affected by the war, but the damage was greater on rural women, especially with the cessation of social security payment, as well as the interruption of the financial support that they used to receive from the cities where their relatives or family members used to work.
Al-Sharabi ended his statements to “Khuyut” by saying that; “the percentage of deprivation from a decent life and reasonable living conditions for a person may reach more than 70% among rural women. According to the reports of UN agencies, it has been reported that the percentage of food poverty in the Yemeni countryside has exceeded the levels of control, in addition to the expansion of the base of destitution and extreme poverty.
