Bushra Al-Raimi, a widow, makes many sacrifices to raise her daughters. She wakes up every day and strives to earn a living for her and her five daughters to subsist.

Her husband died six years ago leaving his responsibilities behind; she has had a difficult time managing after her spouse’s death.

Al-Raimi said, “We became helpless after my husband passed away. No one is sympathetic to us. My husband was the backbone of the house and now I am all alone.”

A lot of mothers suffer the same situation Al-Raimi does, when their husbands die, their wives are left with the responsibility of the family. Many widows suffer from depression when they see their children fatherless.

Um Abdu Al-Rahman, whose husband died two years ago, feels tortured when she sees children with their fathers while her two kids, Jalal and Abdu Al-Rahman, are deprived of the same experience.

“I am now father and mother to my kids. No one takes care of them but me,” she lamented.

She started to learn to sew for a living; however, her financial situation has sharply deteriorated following the death of her husband.

Um Abdu Al-Rahman said she tried many times to get involved in the Charitable Orphan Association for supporting orphans; however, she has encountered hurdles. She kept trying and eventually started to receive some support. They promised to give her a small sum of money, but they actually only followed through with some food materials before Ramadan and YR16,000 over four months.

Her husband used to be an accountant in an electricity company and received YR20,000 monthly. This money helped her cover the rent for their small two room house.

Taqia Mahmood, a widow and mother of seven children, says she has a hard time providing for the needs of her children; such as clothes, school fees and food, particularly now as everything is more expensive during Ramadan.

“We have no source of income to rely on. We only have what we get from the Orphans Foundation,” she said.

Mahmood only wants to live a good life with her children. She said she joined the Orphans Foundation which provided them with aid, but this aid stopped last year.


Supporting the orphans and improving their skills

The Orphans’ Development Foundation invited more than 70 orphans for an Iftar organized by President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi’s office. It aimed to increase support for orphans and widows.

Doctor Mohammed Hasan, general manager of the foundation, said they’re taking care of orphans and helping them to improve their life and job skills.

He said the foundation adopts orphans after their parents die and takes care of them until they turn 16; after that they start vocational training.

Hasan said, “During the training period, the children learn skills enabling them to make money for them and their families and to be positive members of society.”

He added that the foundation tries to make orphans able to participate in developing society through their skills and occupations.

Mahmood said she was very happy to be invited to the Iftar. She and other orphans saw that there were people standing by their side to support them spiritually and financially.

Um Abdulrahman said that training orphans to acquire skills will help them in the future and enable them to start working and increase their income.