" : Tanbol (IDP): We were forced to sleep on bare sands, surrounded by dogs and snakes!"

NFDHR - Sunday, 05 February, 2023

 "We had to sleep on the ground; surrounded by dogs and snakes; only now we can sleep on sheets and beds." This is how "Tanbol", an IDP from Al-Hodeida, announced his relief to his children, receiving the Non-Food Items Shelter bag.
Keen to hear the complete story of Tanbol Mohammad Ayesh, we approached him to have a chat, and he allowed us to write his story and share it.
We came to know that Tanbol is in his forties, father of seven children and unemployed. War forced him to flee from Al-Jah area to Al-Toor village in the Beit Al-Faqih district, Al-Hodeida Governorate.
Tanbol, in his Tehami accent said; "We fled to the desert, no shelter, no food, no clothes. We slept on the ground, no mattresses, no blankets; dogs and snakes all around us, winds covered us with sand."
Immediately after his displacement to Al-Toor, Tanbol collected palm fronds and made a roofless shelter on the moving sand; where he lived with his children for around four years.
Luck began to smile at "Tanbol" when he owned a tent and a latrine as a beneficiary of NFDHR Shelter project; installing 50 Tihama tents (transitional shelters) and 68 latrines in the areas most affected by war in Beit Al-Faqih district, with support of Yemen Humanitarian Fund (YHF).
The project manager, Eng. Hussien Al-Awlaqi, explained that Tanbol's tent was the first tent to be installed by the team because his old one was really damaged. Out of his excitement, he himself participated in installing the tent. He could not believe that he would get a shelter to live in.
When distributing the shelter bags, NFDHR team carried Tanbol's bag to Al-Toor village. His children saw the team’s car in front of their old tent; they jumped out of joy and ran to choose mattresses and blankets. Tanbol addressed his children in a happy Tehami accent:
"Tonight we will all sleep in the new tent. Now we have a door, lamp and a bed; no more sleeping in the open facing the danger of the bites of snakes and dogs."