Taqeea Ahmed Qaid, 29, lives in the capital city of Yemen, a country in which 10.5 million people are thought to require food aid.
Her family-of-six rely on what her husband earns by working for the army. After the rent for their Sana’a house is paid, there is little money left for other necessities.
“My husband has had a mental illness for four years,” Taqeea told us. “We are not able to send him to hospital because he is ashamed [of his illness] and we cannot afford his treatment costs.
“We are facing some difficulties because of a shortage in income. The salary is not enough for food, health, water, power, and other needs. Sometimes, we lack food or gas to cook the food.
“Shortage of food makes some problems in the family. The children complain about the food we serve them, and ask for better dishes which are not available at home. Throughout the year we usually eat soup, rice, potato, bread and yoghurt.”
During Ramadan, it is especially hard for Taqeea to meet the needs of her family – so a food parcel from Islamic Relief made a big difference. One of more than 9,100 foodpacks distributed in Yemen this year, it contained essential items to ease hunger and hardship during the holy month. Flour, rice, sugar, cooking oil and dates were included.
“[Now we have] secure food for three weeks. Because of this we are able to buy other things that we need. Now, we do not need to borrow money to buy food.
“We are all happy, especially my husband, as he does not have to worry about food for the rest of Ramadan. I thank you, and may God bless you.”
Across six governorates in Yemen, more than 63,000 poor people benefitted from Ramadan food parcels distributed by Islamic Relief this year.