a weary nation
Three years of war has worn Yemen down. The cholera outbreak, with over one million cases in less than a year, is only a symptom of the greater disease.
While civilians are dying at an alarming and un-recorded rate due to airstrikes and on the ground fighting, the greater disaster in Yemen is that of shortage: a blockade and the ever-weakening economy has brought Yemen to a standstill. Government salaries have stopped, little aid can be imported, social structures that have held Yemen together through the ages are breaking down, and families can no longer provide for themselves, much less their neighbors.
Despite years of airstrikes, the Houthis have retained power in the north, while the Emirati and Saudi forces vie for power with Yemenis in the south, and the political power struggle is as clear and present as the humanitarian disaster.
Reported for The Intercept / 2
With support by the Pulitzer Center and Women Photograph
Hussein Hasan lays in bed on May 6, 2018, at Jumhuri Hospital in Hajjah, Yemen. Hussein sustained severe abdominal and chest trauma in an airstrike that hit the wedding he was attending, and spent 10 days in intensive care.
Wreaths which had been worn by those celebrating at the wedding that was hit by an airstrike sit amid the rubble on May 6, 2018
Supporters of the Houthis gather for prayer and the funeral of Salah al Samad, a Houthi political leader who was killed in an airstrike, April 28 in Sana'a, Yemen
A Yemeni man and woman walk along the river valley on May 6, 2018 in al Ragha Village, Bani Qais District, Hajjah, Yemen. A wedding in this district was hit by an airstrike during the celebrations.
Yemeni women from the Warazan area of Taiz sit in a tent to escape the sun on April 23, 2018 in Al Majhafa Camp, Al Fayoush, Yemen. Their families fled from fled from the frontline and because of shortages: they all paid about $100 per person to come by bus in the middle of the night.
A nurse retrieves supplies at the malnutrition center supported by WHO on May 7, 2018 in Bani Mansur, Yemen.
A Yemeni man walks through the rubble of a wedding tent on May 6, 2018 in al Ragha Village, Bani Qais District, Hajjah, Yemen. On April 23, a wedding in the rural area was hit by an airstrike, killing over 20 and wounding over 60.
A Yemeni man walks through the rubble of a wedding tent on May 6, 2018 in al Ragha Village, Bani Qais District, Hajjah, Yemen. On April 23, a wedding in the rural area was hit by an airstrike, killing over 20 and wounding over 60.
Rubble sits on the ground in the aftermath of an airstrike on a presidential building on May 7 in Sana'a, Yemen. The building sat adjacent to a residential area, and a number of civilians were injured.
Yemeni woman, all of whom have some form of cancer, lay in their bed on May 4, 2018 at House of Compassion Organization in Sana'a, Yemen. House of Compassion provides housing and supplies to over 100 Yemenis from outside the capital who have kidney failure and cancer, many of whom have sold all their possessions to come for treatment.
Light shines on goods in a convenience store on April 30 in Sana'a, Yemen.
Yemeni families and nurses walk through the malnutrition wing on May 4, 2018 at Sabaeen Hospital in Sana'a, Yemen. Most hospitals in the north are functioning at a minimal level, their staff not paid in months, and are constantly short on supplies.
Zainab and Busha, lay in beds on May 4, 2018 at Sabaeen Hospital in Sana'a, Yemen. They are both severely malnourished, at 11 and 9 months old, they have both been in the hospital for one month, and both weigh less than 7lb.
Yemeni mothers hold their children who have different forms of malnutrition on May 4, 2018 at Sabaeen Hospital in Sana'a, Yemen. Kwashiorkor is caused by severe protein imbalance, and causes water retention and swelling of the face and limbs, Marasmus causes all over muscle wasting.
Ali Ja'afar, 19, the brother of the groom, shows off his injuries on May 6, 2018 in al Ragha Village, Bani Qais District, Hajjah, Yemen.
IV fluids and medication hang from a pole at Jumhuri Hospital in Sana'a, Yemen on May 4, 2018.
Ahmad Mohammad Morshid, a man with kidney failure who just underwent his first round of dialysis, recovers in his bed on May 4, 2018 at Jumhuri Hospital in Sana'a, Yemen. Ahmad grew and sold qat, and for the last year has had back pain and swelling in his stomach. Doctors told him to go for dialysis, but he couldn't afford to even travel to the capital. His family took out a loan to get him here, they're staying with relatives near the airport.
Supporters of the Houthis (Ansar Allah) look at pictures on their phone from a recent funeral, while a spokesman, Mohammad Al Bukhaiti, speaks on TV in the background on April 28, 2018.
Supporters of the Houthis gather for prayer and the funeral of Salah al Samad, a Houthi political leader who was killed in an airstrike, April 28 in Sana'a, Yemen
Supporters of the Houthis gather for prayer and the funeral of Salah al Samad, a Houthi political leader who was killed in an airstrike, April 28 in Sana'a, Yemen
Ali Hussein Numer lays in bed with a suspected case of cholera on May 7, 2018 in Bani Mansur, Yemen. He had to drive over two hours to reach the health facility, the closest to his home.
Yemeni men buy petrol in water bottles on the black market on May 4 in Sana'a, Yemen.
Boats float in the water outside the port in Aden, Yemen on April 22, 2018.