Al-Lasbah Village.. Children's ambitions challenge the mountains in search of education

Yemen's Children Platform - Mohi El-Din El-Shawtri

Saleem and his friends endure the rough road for long hours, while their families remain anxious throughout those hours, fearing the danger of falling from those high mountains that their children take, as they cannot reach their school except through those dangerous roads.

Every morning, the journey of the child "Saleem Mohammed Mahmoud", 13 years old, from the village of "Al-Lassabah" affiliated with the "Al-Mudharaba and Ras Al-Ara" Directorate in Lahj Governorate, southern Yemen, begins towards Amr bin Al-Aas School located in the "Malabih" area, 10 kilometers from his home.

Saleem is not the only child who makes his daily journey towards education, as he is one of 30 children in his village who cross this mountain range on foot on their way to school, as there is no road suitable for vehicles to drive on, and they have no choice but to climb and ascend through those mountains in their desire to continue their education.

Saleem says that their suffering continues throughout the school seasons. In winter, they suffer from severe cold and are exposed to severe colds, which causes them diseases, while in autumn, the "water pools" fill up as a result of the rain, which may pose a danger to them. He pointed out that the rain causes torrential floods, especially since the mountains they pass through form dangerous floods, which forces him and his colleagues not to go to school sometimes.

The residents of Al-Lassabah village complain about the lack of a school in their area, as well as the lack of all service and health facilities, which doubles their suffering and the suffering of their children.

The villagers confirmed that during the past five years, 13 children were forced to stop learning and drop out of school due to the long distance to school, the ruggedness and hardships of the road, and the parents' fear for their children falling from those deep mountains.

As for the child "Ahmed Hamid Al-Mashouli", who is 12 years old, he expressed his ambition and desire to complete his educational journey by finishing high school and continuing his university studies despite the lack of all the requirements for that.

The child Ahmed says: "We were hoping that even primary classes would be established in the village in order to relieve us of traveling these long distances and rough roads, and so that our bodies could bear these hardships, but nothing of that happened, so we are forced, out of love for education, to go to school because we see our families suffering from the lack of a teacher in the area or even a nurse who treats the sick people of the area."

Special treatment
Teacher Adel Al-Mashouli says: "We at Amr Ibn Al-Aas School deal with the children of Al-Lassabah village in a special way and we try to overlook them and encourage them. For example, they are exempted from the morning school assembly and we give them some privileges compared to other students in order to maintain their desire to learn."

Teacher Adel adds: "Amr Ibn Al-Aas School and the teaching staff deal specifically with the students of Al-Lassabah area, which comes from a sense of responsibility towards them, especially since most of the previous students did not complete the preparatory stage due to the difficult circumstances they face when they come to school every morning."

Al-Mashouli points out that "there are currently students who will complete the preparatory stage and we want to preserve them and we have a desire to keep them in school and complete the secondary stage because that will be in the interest of their entire region."

The teacher Al-Mashouli confirms that the effective solution to encourage the education of the children of the region is to establish a primary school for the lower three grades in their village and adopt it as an annex to Amr Ibn Al-Aas School, the closest school to them, as this method will encourage the families to send the buds to school if it is available in their village, especially since some of the families fear that their children will climb those rugged mountains and therefore prefer them to stay at home.

Appeal
For his part, Mahmoud Al-Mashouli, the "wise man of the region", says that denial and neglect are affecting their village and therefore they feel wronged, oppressed and deprived, whether from humanitarian aid from humanitarian organizations or educational services, pointing out that they are deprived of everything and that everyone sees the suffering of our children during their long journey to school, which is considered their most basic right.

Finally, Al-Aqil Mahmoud directs his message to the concerned parties, whether governmental or organizations concerned with children, to pay attention to them and stand by them in building an elementary school and providing the requirements for early education so that their children can obtain the right to education and keep up with education like the different regions.