The founder, Maged Al-Saidi, grew up in Yemen. He went to Germany as a student and found a new home there. The idea behind founding an organization came to him through telling friends and colleagues about the war and crisis in Yemen, and more and more people asking him how they could help. Together with friends, he founded the organization “Kinder Jemens in Not.”
Learn moreEven before the outbreak of the war, there were an estimated 20.000 homeless children in Yemen. Children who depend on begging or working “on the street” for their own, as well as their families, care. Since then, this number has increased dramatically. Older people who have lost their homes and can no longer take care of themselves also “end up” on the street. They lack sufficient food, clean water, medicine, and protection against violence. Most children are malnourished and suffer from treatable diseases. With your help, the organization Kinder Jemens in Not e.V. can give homeless children in Sana’a and Taiz, the two largest cities in Yemen, as well as in the regions Dhamar and Ibb a chance of survival. Our goal is to supply children with basic provisions and school supplies, to assure their basic needs are met and allow them to receive an education. Our representatives in Sanaa, Taiz, Ibb, and in the province Dhamar keep in touch with the families and make sure that they receive the food deliveries and that the children do go to school.
Learn more17 million people in Yemen are suffering from malnutrition, 2,2 million children alone are acutely malnourished! When it comes to malnutrition, there is a risk of permanent development delays and diseases such as infections, as the child’s immune system is severely weakened. In the past two years alone, 85.000 children under the age of five years have died due to malnutrition, according to UN-Data - that is one child every 10 minutes! Our goal was to provide 1000 children currently suffering from starvation with medical support, especially in rural areas. The children will receive emergency rations, made from milk powder enriched with nutrients. This helps to aid nutrient deficiency symptoms and so allows children to gain weight again. Aside from that, it is clear that no family willingly lets the weakest suffer or even starve. We have made the frightening realization that these children’s families are mostly also malnourished, meaning that the mothers cannot supply their babies with milk. This is why we supply not only the children but also their families with food.
Learn moreIn the past, we often received questions about long-term, individualized help. For this reason, in 2020 we decided to offer sponsorships. By taking on sponsorship, you are giving a homeless child and/or a severely malnourished child a long-term prospect.
The monthly costs for a street child to go to school, for example, are around 60 € to 90 € per child. Smaller contributions are also welcome, in which case we pool several sponsors. However, no money is paid out in cash. The child receives school materials and their family is given a monthly food package instead. The communication between the child and the sponsor takes place through the organization and its local helpers on-site. This has various reasons: For one, we can overcome the language barrier. On the other hand, the children often have no way of communicating directly due to financial means and the current war situation in Yemen. When the situation has improved, we will try to allow for direct communication. By sponsoring a child, you are giving them a chance of a self-determined childhood and a better future! In addition:
Give your sponsored child the chance to grow up healthy, educated, and violence-free!
Mehr erfahrenWhy this project?
So far, our projects have consisted primarily of 1.) allowing students and teachers to go back to school, and 2.) providing starving children and their families with provisions/food and medicine. This is going to stay the main focus for the organization, as long as the war is taking place and in-person help is necessary. People in Yemen not only suffer from the direct consequences of war, but also long-term poverty, inactivity, and helplessness. So, alongside our ongoing projects, we also want to set the course for the future and establish more sustainable forms of help. Many Yemenis would rather be active themselves than have to rely on outside help from others. This is why we want to focus our resources on improving basic healthcare for the most vulnerable in the county. Namely, the children in rural areas, by building a children’s hospital - as a long-term solution to “help people help themselves”.
The hospital
People in Yemen have been suffering from the effects of the civil war since 2013. Many were driven out of their homes and poverty itself is a huge challenge. Many of these internal refugees live in the Ibb province, the most densely populated and poorest region in the country. Children in this region are no longer provided with the urgently needed medical care, which for us is deemed as obvious. To provide humanitarian care for children, we are going to build a hospital. There will be ambulant as well as stationary care, to cover the full spectrum of the in-person medical primary care, with the focus being on sick children. Our “Thuraya” hospital (see “Learn more”) will be adapted to the local circumstances. Compared to hospitals in developed countries, the construction and running are notably cheaper, and this is why we as an organization can make this hospital happen - but we need your help! €250.000,00 are already available for the construction of the hospital.
Why now?
Because Thuraya, like too many others, did not survive: When the 2-year-old girl fell ill, her family could not afford to pay for the medical care that she so desperately needed. They could not even afford to get her to the hospital. Her father contacted our organization, and she was taken to a hospital. Unfortunately, Thuraya was already so weak that she passed away within a few days. Her fate is no exception, but part of the daily tragedies that affect the civil war shaken Yemen. According to the UN estimate, 1 child in Yemen under the age of 5 dies every 10 minutes from treatable causes. Thuraya’s story, even if it is one of many, resonated with us. This is why we decided to build the “Thuraya Kinderklinik'' directly in the Ibb region, which will be reachable for around 50.000 residents in a 5km radius, to provide pediatric care.
Our fully voluntary-run organization is dependent on financial and material support in order to implement our idea.
Learn moreThe main purpose of the organization is to support and encourage children in Yemen. The association acts directly through auxiliary persons on site.
You can find the current statutes as PDF hereThe association Kinder Jemens in Not e.V. is registered in the register of associations in Munich under the number VR 207136 and recognized by the Tax Office for Corporations in Munich according to the exemption notice of January 25, 2023 as a non-profit organization.
You can find the exemption notice as PDF here