World Humanitarian Day 2020: Real Life Heroes 

Roza’s grandmother named her after a word that means paradise.  

This is not a word that many would use to describe the situation in conflict-ravaged Yemen over the last six years, but through her work, the 32-year-old mother of two has striven to bring some sense of comfort and normalcy to displaced people.  

Roza is an International Organization for Migration (IOM) counsellor at the Abdulkwai Health Centre in Aden city, Yemen. She started working with displaced people back in 2011 when a localized conflict in Abyan caused some families to flee.  

“In the displacement site, I met a beautiful five-year-old boy whose parents were tragically killed in front of him. He was so traumatized that he completely stopped interacting with other people. I worked closely with him over the course of a few months, until the day that he started speaking again. He was then able to express his feelings and that was really rewarding,” said Roza. 

But it was, in fact, years earlier that a young empathetic Roza first felt a calling for what would eventually become her career and passion. 

“As a teenager, I started to develop an interest in the issues people face. When I saw anyone, who seemed to be dealing with some troubles or feeling unhappy, I would do my best to alleviate their pain by making them laugh. I became a good listener; I love to listen to people and people tend to open up to me,” she said. 

“So, as a high school student, I knew what I wanted to be. I thought that the most beautiful thing I could do with my life, which I would always give my all, would be to work in psychological support,” Roza added. 

However, Roza did not have a straight and easy road to achieving her dream. Personal tragedy came first, then came family responsibility, which weighed down her young shoulders. 

“When I was in my first year of high school, my mother died, leaving me with the responsibility of taking care of the house, my father, brothers and eight-year-old sister. Initially, my new circumstance meant that I was forced to drop out of school, but I never gave up on my dream,” she said.  

“I decided that I had to figure out a way to manage both caring for my family and the house while continuing my studies. So, I started waking up at the crack of dawn to cook, clean and prepare my brothers and sister for school. Then I would get myself ready to go to school at 7am. I studied hard and worked hard until I eventually graduated and was able to attend university to study psychology,” she explained.  

Roza has still not been able to complete all her academic ambitions but once her daughters Ghazzal and Ghalla, who are currently seven and two years old, are grown-up enough, she plans to further her studies. Working while raising such young children has been a challenge. 

“It does bother my two young daughters that I spend so much time away from them working, but as they grow older, they have started to understand that I help people in need when I am not at home. They have started to accept it and feel proud of me. My older daughter wants to work in mental health support like me.” 

She has worked at the Abdulkwai Centre since 2015. Today, Roza faces any challenges that come her way, and, by doing so, she tries to make seeking help more of a normal occurrence in her community. 

“The biggest challenge I face as is that people still don’t understand the nature of our work. They don’t seek our help because they are worried about the associated shame or that people will accuse them of being crazy. But things are improving from what they used to be, and people are starting to see the importance of psychological support,” said Roza. 

As a counsellor who strongly believes in the links between physical and mental well-being, Roza feels COVID-19 has added a new layer of complexity to working in Yemen.  

“With the COVID-19 outbreak, fear has become the real enemy. I had so many cases coming to me terrified and panicked by the possibility of losing their lives. Panic is setting into the community, which affects physical and mental well-being,” she said. 

“To stop the virus from spreading, we need to maintain a physical distance. Yet at the same time, we need to show empathy to the people we are working with. This is a real struggle,” said Roza, describing the direct impact of COVID-19 on her work. 

“It was difficult to explain to my daughters that I can’t hug them when I get home from work until I shower,” she added and explained that at home she has become what she calls “a sanitation guard”, keeping everything sterilized. 

“My message to the world is to stay positive. In life, we can feel sad, stressed or worried because there is no perfect life but that is just the law of life. We need to accept that and not only focus on the negatives. If we keep doing so, the pain will continue. We should look for something good in our lives and stand up for ourselves. Even if you just make one person smile, it will be worth it,” concluded Roza. 

Roza is one of thousands of IOM staff working on the frontlines of the world’s crises.  

On World Humanitarian Day, we pay tribute to the courage, dedication and determination of the real-life heroes who provide relief to millions of people globally.