Ma’rib – Last year, a father approached IOM’s office in Ma’rib, carrying his three-year-old son, Ayman*, in his arms. Ayman was sick and malnourished. 

The father put his child on a chair in the reception area and said he could no longer care for or afford his son’s treatment.

“It is a humanitarian organization’s job to take care of people in need” said Ayman’s father in despair before leaving the office.

“Please take care of my son.” 

According to IOM’s protection team, the father was displaced from Raymah, some 360 kilometres away. He had been living in Al Rumaylah displacement site for four years with his wife and four other children.

“I met the father when the team was conducting a protection assessment for the newly-displaced population in Al Rumaylah  last June,” recalled Mohammed Saeed, IOM Protection Project Assistant.

 “It was obvious that he was suffering from psychological stress. He did not want us to enter the tent or to speak with his family or his children,” explained Mohammed.

The team managed to assess the family’s needs and discovered Ayman’s condition. The family was provided with cash assistance, in addition to personal hygiene materials and other essential items to care for his children.

About a month later, the father came to IOM’s office and left his son at the lobby. He also left the camp and disappeared with his family. No one knows his whereabouts.

IOM staff brought the infant to the nearest health facility, Al Shaheed Hail Hospital, in Ma’rib City for emergency treatment while they searched for his family to no avail.

According to the United Nations, acute malnutrition threatens half of children under the age of five in Yemen – nearly 2.3 million children in total. Approximately 400,000 of these children are expected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition and could die if they do not receive urgent treatment. Ayman was one of them.

At the same time Ayman was receiving treatment in the hospital, a 50-year-old woman named Fatima was visiting her nephew who was also suffering from malnutrition.

She was displaced from Hajjah governorate to Mar’ib five years ago. When she saw little  Ayman lying in the bed next to her nephew’s, alone, she knew she had to help him.

“I saw him laying still as a tiny dead body on the big bed with no movement or reaction. I thought to myself, ‘This innocent soul should not struggle with death at this young age,’” Fatima said.

Fatima told one of Ayman’s caregivers that she was willing to take care of him as an alternative mother through a programme run by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) which supports community members who are willing to care for children in need of a guardian and a home.

“I am sure that many people would not hesitate to take care of Ayman or any abandoned child if it wasn’t for the harsh living conditions many of us who are displaced endure,” explained Fatima.

Fatima’s journey of helping him recover was filled with challenges. During the 21 days that was in the hospital, Fatima never left his side.

“I believed that I would take care of Ayman better at home where I could make him better, more nutritious meals,” said Fatima.

Now, Fatima brings Ayman to his weekly medical checkups and follows strict instructions to nurse him back to health, like buying him specific types of food and giving him three small meals a day.

“I’ve never seen a childlike Ayman. He is so compassionate, gentle and kind,” Fatima explained.

With support from USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) supports vulnerable children by providing health support and protection to less fortunate children. 

IOM supports alternative caretakers like Ayman who are willing to take in children in need. The caretakers receive cash, training, food and hygiene materials. Fatima has been provided with funds for Ayman’s monthly nutritional and other expenses as well as kits with essential items needed to care for a baby.

Since the beginning of the year, IOM distributed nearly 120 kits to families in four displacement sites in Ma’rib, thanks to the support from the United States.

This story was written by Elham Al-Oqabi and Mennatallah Homaid – IOM Yemen’s Communication Assistants

*Name was changed to protect the child’s identity