For the past 3 years I have been in email correspondence with a man from war-torn Yemen. He first got in touch with me after he came across an article I wrote supporting refugees. Since then I’ve gradually got to know and trust him. A few days ago, he told me that he likes to go ‘dog watering’ – he’s been taking water to stray dogs in order to keep them alive.
It’s a dangerous thing to do. There are gangsters in the streets, as well as landmines, stray bullets and bomb-dropping aircraft. Because the local water mains have been broken by bombing, all the water this family use has to be carried from a well. He worries about his young wife and son when he is out and they worry about him. Despite all this he has 
kept doing it. Many of the locals, who don’t treat the dogs at all well, sometimes deliberately hurting them, ridicule him for caring. But still he does it because it is important to him to keep his humanity intact.
I was so moved when I found out about this. His family have very little to eat, much of the time he’s hungry and he’s really worried that his tiny son isn’t getting enough food and vitamins. Many children have died of malnutrition because of the war. Although he’s a qualified English teacher (and believes incidentally in the education of girls) there’s no paid work because the exiled Yemeni government has stopped paying its employees. Yet despite all these worries he still cares about the dogs. As you probably know Yemen is a very poor, hot, dry, country. Fortunately, there is a reliable way to send a little money direct to him using Western Union. If you are moved by this story and might like to help, please let me know: wyonstansfeld@gmail.com.
wyon 