QRCS builds 290 shelters for homeless families in Yemen
January 16th, 2019 ― Doha: Qatar Red Crescent Society’s (QRCS) mission in Yemen has completed a project to help the families affected by severe floods in Al-Hudaydah.
At a total cost of $273,000 (nearly QR 1 million), 290 houses were built for the homeless families in Alluheyah and Az-Zuhrah Districts, and a number of mosques and schools were restored.
The houses meet health standards in terms of ventilation and weather protection.
To be environment-friendly, they were built using materials from the local nature.
Also, a school of three classrooms was built, as well as a mosque in Alluheyah.
This project helps to alleviate the suffering of the local community due to the floods and the protracted war. Generally, houses in those areas are built of mudbricks, which makes them prone to heavy rain, especially as the neighborhoods lack drainage infrastructure.
Like many other parts of the country, the two districts lack the minimum living standards. The houses have no doors or windows. It is not unusual to find a family who shares a single-room house. A tragedy that seems to have no end!
Hundreds of families live in makeshift tents. The local population cannot rebuild the damaged houses. Most of them are poor shepherds or fisherman.
In a small village, located in Wadi Mawr, Az-Zuhrah, Haji Mubarak Ibrahim Hassan lives with a 10-member family in a room-house, so to speak. Just like all the other poor houses in the village, the structure is made of mudbricks and roofed with leaves of banana plants and palm trees.
Telling his sad story, Mr. Hassan said, “Two years ago, we had lived in our home village by the southern bank of the valley. We had a tough but stable life. Our houses were built of the local mudbricks and slates. In the monsoon rain, heavy showers washed our houses, farms, and sheep away. We lost everything. We lost our dreams. Because of the war, no one was out there for us”.
“But then came the State of Qatar, and our hopes were revived. QRCS built new houses for us, and we could settle in much better shelters,” he added. “Thank you QRCS for helping us. May God bless you and everyone who contributed to this”.
Abdul-Rahman Al-Rifai, from the Az-Zuhrah Municipal Administration, commended QRCS’s efforts to serve the people of the district, with a shelter project that met the essential needs of the desperate victims of floods.
About Qatar Red Crescent (QRCS)
Established in 1978, Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) is a humanitarian volunteering organization that aims to assist and empower vulnerable individuals and communities without partiality or discrimination.
QRCS is a member of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, which consists of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and 190 National Societies. QRCS is also a member of several GCC, Arab, and Islamic organizations, such as the Islamic Committee of International Crescent and the Arab Red Crescent and Red Cross Organization (ARCO). In this legally recognized capacity, QRCS has access to disaster and conflict zones, thus serving as an auxiliary to the State of Qatar in its humanitarian efforts — a role that distinguishes it from other local charities and NGOs.
QRCS operates both locally and internationally and has ongoing international relief and development projects in a number of countries throughout the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and Europe. QRCS’s humanitarian actions include providing support in disaster preparedness, disaster response, risk reduction, and disaster recovery. To mitigate the impact of disasters and improve the livelihoods of affected populations, QRCS provides medical services, healthcare, and social development to local communities. It is also active at the humanitarian advocacy front. With the help of a vast network of trained, committed staff and volunteers, QRCS aspires to improve the lives of vulnerable people by mobilizing the power of humanity.
QRCS works under the umbrella of the seven international humanitarian principles: Humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity, and universality.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/qrcs-builds-290-shelters-homeless-families-yemen
