Ordeal of earning livelihood [Archives:2004/729/Opinion]

By Abdulwahab Al-Sofi
Hodiedah
For the Yemen Times
[email protected]
The difficulty of earning a livelihood insults persons who cannot sleep without feeding his children. Our children are our livers walking on land. The pain of your child is your heart's wheel. There is nothing like health and stability for making people happy. We have to do justice and love mercy. It is one picture for all. After he had narrated his story, we burst into tears. It was an affected story, in which feelings have emerged from the heart. He came to school weeping. The tears that flowed on his both cheeks are like streams. His eyes were as red as a dewy rose. At the beginning, he couldn't speak a word, as if a heavy load was on his chest. He was so sad that his face was washed by tears.
We started to heal his feelings.
Afterwards, we knew that that his baby was sick. His little son was twisting in pain, as he was diseased. “Two days ago, I started to look for money, but in vain” said the wounded father. Then he was obliged to stay at home waiting for auto determination, but his son worsened. He had no money as his salary had finished. It was distributed among the grocery, pharmacy and the rent. He wanted to borrow some money to take his baby to the hospital. He demanded help from his colleagues who were in a similar position. Most of them were waiting for their salary, which was still two weeks away.
The majority of employees in our country are chased by poverty, which is considered to be a polite death. It threatens poor people but many prefer it to a life in which they cannot feed their children. They cannot heal their children's wounds. They have not the ability to go to the doctor for any simple medical cure. It is a catastrophe, which we fear to increase. It is not that only employees live this calamity, but the majority of people live this misery.
Thus, we have two main points in our life. These two points upset us day and night. They are the mere necessary food and medicine for our diseased people. Health and food are very necessities for human beings. Enough food for a person may prevent them giving even the minimum food to their children. What about the other needs for children? I have no answer That's why people are easily exposed to diseases. They are suffering from the bitterness of disease and starvation. These two effectual elements controlled our mind instantly. We have no chance to claim our simple rights. Hunger makes a person unable to think. As war brings ruin and misery, poverty also brings disease, pain and ignorance. They are part and parcel of each other. Moreover, many dangerous diseases are spread among poor people who cannot afford the necessary food. Salaries don't provide the minimum food for two weeks of a month. Our government should be aware of this suffering. It should secure food and medicine for poor people at least.
In addition to that, food item prices are increasing. Bread, which is the main food, has become thin. What spirit does the government keeps silent as greedy merchants rule the government, not the opposite. Or is this the new policy of the government? It is known that any society is divided into upper, middle and lower class, but our society is divided into upper and lower classes only. The middle class was swallowed by the upper class. We demand our government to stop the upper class eating the lower class. The government has to keep away from the Arabic proverb: should you starve your dog, it will follow you. I think it is unfair our government treat us like that.
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