Layla, a 14-year-old girl from Taiz, lives in an old house with her mother and four sisters.
Her father died after he stepped on a landmine, and her mother suffers from heart problems.
After the death of their father, Layla and her sisters stopped going to school and started trying to find work so that they can buy medicine for their ill mother and to feed themselves and the family. The only work they found was to collect water from far distances and carry it back for their neighbors, who give them money or food in return.
When ITDC delivered the food voucher to Layla’s house, tears of joy streamed down the mother’s cheeks. Layla said, “Now we can stop thinking of starvation and my sisters can go back to school. But I will keep on working so we can buy my mother’s medicine.”
Her mother replied, “Do not fear, my daughter, as long as there are such people who love the good of others, feel their suffering, and work to help them.”
After receiving the first food basket, Layla and her mother went to the ITDC team and said, “I will pray to God every day to protect and bless you, because you rescued me and my family from starvation.” These words stuck in the minds of the team and gave them an emotional boost to do their utmost to help those who are most in need. As one local team member said afterwards, “We have given this poor family a source of hope and life, they have been kicked out of the shadow of death, and now two girls are able to go to school again.”
