At the same time that a woman from Aden in the second half of her fifties, named Soraya Fadl, realized that her life and the life of her family had finally begun to change, everything around her, whether she could notice it or not, was also changing. Leaves of trees that had acquired yellow or orange colors a short time ago began to fall, the air temperature gradually decreased, some types of birds that were usual to be seen nearby migrate in flocks, the sky becomes clearer than before, and even night and day - unusually Their habit in recent months - the date of the arrival of the first progressed and became longer, and the second began to leave early and become shorter as a result of the tilt of the Earth's axis as it revolves around the sun. All indications are that autumn has just begun, and although everything that happens was a natural thing that repeats every year, Soraya, who believed for many years that a miracle alone, if it happened, would be able to bring about this change and transfer their fate that seemed to her as destiny. Coming to the stage you have just entered, I took the matter as a sign and a good omen. Today, nearly a year later, it can be said that the woman was almost right.

With the advent of autumn 2021, the war in Yemen that erupted in September 2014 and continues to this day is entering its eighth year. September is usually a harvest month, but hundreds of millions of Yemenis, including Soraya and her family, have been reaping nothing but disappointments for a long time. "8 years ago, we no longer had any income, and without humanitarian relief, but perhaps in the numbers of the dead now." With these direct words, Soraya Hall described the enormity of what is happening. In a tone of voice that seemed to carry no specific feelings, Soraya spoke about two chapters of her family's life. The first is that it is difficult for those who did not know anything about the "forgotten war" in Yemen to believe that it is not a chapter from a fictional movie, but rather a reality that millions of Yemenis are still living through, and the second is a chapter The return of hope, a chapter that began less than a year ago, when she was accepted into a program aimed at securing a decent life for the families of small-scale fishermen who have been severely affected by the crisis and conflict in Yemen.

46 years ago, Soraya was born to a small family living in Al-Bariqa in Aden. Her father, who was a government employee at the time, inherited from his father the profession of fishing, but this profession he loved and still, he did not take it seriously at first, the job was his main field of interest, so he did not You don't have to buy all the equipment a fisherman needs. When he was dismissed from his job nearly 3 decades ago, the sea became his main source of livelihood. Soraya did not have more than five years in school, which she found herself forced to leave due to her mother's illness and the difficult financial situation of the family. She later married and had 4 children, and although her situation did not differ after marriage, the sadness that accompanied her since childhood, made her keep the promise she made to herself at the time to educate her children, and even when the family did not know how to manage the next day's meal, she was keen to That her children do not leave school.

Once the war broke out, Soraya's husband - who was the main breadwinner for the family and was a daily wage earner - was unable to find a stable job. At that time, the family organized two new members. Her mother had passed away years ago, and in a difficult situation like this, her father and brother moved to live with her in the house in which the family lives and owned by a group of heirs, including her husband, but their presence was a catalyst, because they still had some fishing equipment and they were with a group of fishermen renting boat and earn their living.

Soraya and her family lived a life that became increasingly difficult and harsh with the passage of time, until a day came and everything changed, and she had the greatest credit for that. In the context of facing the repercussions of the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, the YLDF launched in August 2021, in partnership with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and with funding from the Japanese government, a project to revive livelihoods and build the capacities of small-scale fishermen who are heads of families whose livelihoods have been severely disrupted to adapt to the effects of the ongoing conflict during the impact of the conflict. Pandemic of the emerging corona epidemic in the governorates of Aden and Hadramout. Soraya was one of 69 women and girls from Aden who received training courses, advisory and technical assistance from specialists in developing small projects, and received financial grants of $950 to start their businesses. And because she has enough experience in preparing incense and other types of perfume, she found that it is possible to kill two birds with one stone, because most of the raw materials that go into preparing these products are extracted from the sea. “Most of the amount of the grant that I got I bought a boat and the rest I bought the tools needed for work,” she says, explaining how she helped her father and brother continue their fishing profession, and at the same time she started her project, because they also provided her with the raw materials for her products.

“This is the best year we have lived in a long time,” Soraya says: “This project taught us how to build uninterrupted livelihoods, but the most important thing is that the trainings we received taught us how to develop our ambitions, and the coaches gave us hope that we could be influential people. We do not need anyone to believe in our lives in ourselves.” ". In the current year 2022, Soraya had fully established her project and started selling some products, and in a bazaar organized by the Young Leaders Development Foundation in early February in order to help all targeted women to promote their projects, Soraya said that she sold products worth 100,000 riyals, and after two months - that is, during the Eid al-Fitr season - She used to sell excellent sums every day, for example, her income in one day exceeded 300,000 riyals (about $300).

“I am a different woman now, and this project has made me feel important too,” Soraya says, explaining the impact of her small project on her personally. As for the future, she says: “The future that I lost, I want to see my children achieve, so educating them is the most important, they are smart, and I want them.” To study in the best universities in the world, and this is my main goal.”