Head of Physiotherapy - Rita Mohammed Okesh

Rita Mohammed Okesh
Head of Physiotherapy

Rita is a qualified and trained physiotherapist having graduated from a 3 year course from the Medical Health Institute in the Capital of Yemen, Sana’a. She has been working in the ADRA Hais clinic for 4 years and has a very active practice. The local hospital does not offer physiotherapy and Rita is the only therapist in the entire region. Rita ambitiously serves 309 patients in the Hais office and a further 200 in the smaller surrounding villages.

The most common of ailments Rita sees are forms of cerebral palsy and rheumatoid arthritis but she also treats other disabilities such as polio and general paralysis. Rita performs electro therapy, hydra therapy, physical exercises as well as rehabilitation such as stance, aqua balancing, nutrition, massage etc. The clinic has exercise equipment including bicycle, walking machine, stretching extender, parallel bars for walking, and ropes. Unfortunately all of this equipment appears very old, outdated and in disrepair. Patients need to use the equipment for exercises and this is a critical component of the physiotherapy program.

Rita who is 26 is the eldest of a traditional Hais family of 11 children and she still lives with her mother and father. Her father is a trained nurse in the local health unit and he has encouraged her to seek education and employment rather than to take the traditional life of marriage, children and homecare. Rita was overjoyed when at 19 years old and about to graduate, ADRA came to her school and selected her to be a recipient for physiotherapy training. She had hoped at school that she could have been a doctor for women and ADRA made this possible. Her father considers Rita a “daughter of ADRA”.

Equality for women is a strong passion for Rita who has been a major influence for others. Rita believes that education is the key for families to escape the vicious cycle of poverty and the attendant problems of health care. One of her sisters now attends a University near Hodeidah studying chemistry and other sisters will follow in her footsteps. Rita strongly believes that women can be equal with men and since women can perform all jobs, they should strive to have the same opportunities afforded to men.

Challenges faced by Rita are that the disabled accept her physiotherapy as a valid treatment. Most are more familiar with traditional medical treatments involving injection and tablets and are initially reluctant to accept new methods. Other people believe in the powers of magic that are still practiced in the Hais area. After 4 years in practice she has overcome this challenge and now patients even come to her house.

A greater challenge is that to be effective Rita really needs new equipment as well as a replacement for unserviceable and outdated equipment at the ADRA Hais clinic. New equipment such as ultra sound is needed as is an electronic stimulator for the nervous system.

Rita’s hopes for the future are to have a better centre for physiotherapy especially servicing the many more disabled people, focused on women and children. Rita believes in education awareness and she hopes to be able to promote this through her clinical practice. One dream she has is to complete her physiotherapy studies at a university and this can only be carried out away from Yemen for example in Egypt. Time and money are needed for this to occur.

Rita is so grateful for the opportunities that ADRA has given to her and in particular the special interest taken by the Country Director Nagi Khalil who has encouraged her to progress. She will not forget this kindness and commits to helping humanity and work for God (Allah). Rita’s main objective now is to help humanity and alleviate poverty through education, and in particular to support women’s issues and rights, health and livelihoods. Rita’s passion is for the community to find love in each other and for there to be equality between men and women.

Khocha - A village by the Red Sea

Khocha a small village west of Hais

Khocha is a larger village located on the coast of the Red Sea about 30 kms west of Hais and approachable by roads. The planning of buildings is similar to other villages where homes are arranged in small compounds of several buildings belonging to a single family. A compound is walled and forms a security and privacy for the family unit sharing a single water well and courtyard. Narrow alleys adjoin the compounds where the children play and the women with black abayas flowing, rush about their errands and scold the children. There is no running water or electricity. One forms the impression that this has progressed no further than biblical times.

Aziza Ayash is a young 20 year old girl who suffers from polio as well as a disturbing mental condition. Her mother explains that she has suffered like this since she had a fever when she was about 2 years old. Rita recognized that this patient needed a neurological specialist and arranged transport and an ADRA community based rehabilitation worker to accompany her to Taiz for this treatment, also paid for by ADRA. Since then Rita and other ADRA community based rehabilitation workers have visited weekly for exercises and massage treatment. Aziza says “I love Rita”. Meanwhile her mother Guma has benefitted from an ADRA micro finance loan to finance her shop where she sells biscuits and Pepsi. Guma says she hopes that ADRA will continue this wonderful contribution to her daughter’s life.

ADRA in a small village called Fash

Fash, a small village east of Hais


Fash is located about 5 kms east of Hais and has a population of about 7,000. The village is little more than a collection of mud buildings with thatch roofs and where poverty is obvious in the poor dress of the people. The men are typically fishing about 35 kms away and do not return at night. Thus the women have to look after the children and the aged. The women tend small farm animals and undertake some crop farming with vegetables. ADRA has been giving assistance to the village since 1995, with a range of benefits. A school was erected with ADRA assistance and this is now undergoing an expansion by the Government. A health centre was also erected again with ADRA assistance.

Several of the women were keen to share their experiences

Saedah is a 30 year old divorced mother with one child and who lives in the village of Fash. She was trained by Dina to use the sewing machine and she is able to sell locally in the village.

Hanan a married woman with 5 children is also a graduate of the sewing program. Her husband works in Aden and she supports her children alone for much of the time. She was previously a trainee with the immunization program carried out by ADRA several years ago. She has recently taken out a micro-finance loan of $50 to buy a female sheep and now the animal is pregnant.

Both Saedah and Hannan have now been trained by ADRA community based rehabilitation workers to do some health awareness instruction in the village. They both comment that ADRA has been very good for the women of FASH.

Salama Abdul is a young 20 year old who lives with her family of 8 and she still attends school. This is unusual since her father has allowed her to attend a local school with male teachers. Salama suffers from a disabled hand a long standing disability from when she was a small baby. The community based rehabilitation worker Fatma has worked with Salama for about 3 years with exercise and the use of a splint. Salama is now able to use the hand effectively enough to do some cooking and washing. She comments that if she is able to complete her schooling she would like to be a doctor for disabled people.

Physiotherapy Patient - Galib Ali Zahir

Physiotherapy Patient
of Abdulai
Oct 26 2008

Galib Ali Zahir
Male, 60 years old

Galib came to the clinic today as part of a regular routine treatment. He has suffered palsy to the left side of his body for about 12 months but 4 months ago he sought the treatment offered at ADRA. Abdulai has been giving exercises to the patient and has been giving instruction to Galib’s uncle and son so that exercises can be continued at home. Electro therapy treatment has also been given at ADRA and the patient needs about 2 more months of treatment. Abdulai reports that when Galib arrived at ADRA he had limited movement but now there is a marked improvement.

Galib was a farmer but now spends most of his time at home in Makbarr about 2 kms west of Hais. He is very thankful to ADRA for this opportunity to recover and to become a useful person at home for his family.

Abdulai recommends that this sort of palsy needs to be captured early in order to be more effective. More information is needed to be given to the community.

Physiotherapy patient treated by Rita

Physiotherapy patient
Of Rita
October 22nd

Ng’amah Talib Mee’amrah

Ng’amah came to ADRA in Hais about 6 months ago suffering from rheumatoid arthritis and complaining of extreme stiffness and swelling in the joints. She had difficulty walking and had spent a good deal of time in bed. Previous visits to the local hospital as well as in Hodeidah and in Sana’a had failed to provide relief and Ng’amah had even tried a witch or magician doctor. She heard from others about the benefits of the ADRA program and came to visit Rita who heads the ADRA physiotherapy clinic.

Rita gave Ng’amah daily or twice weekly electro therapy, massages an anti inflammatory crème, as well as some aqua balancing and gradually Ng’amah is beginning to walk and move her hands. She is very grateful.

Ng’amah is a single woman of 30 years living with her family and she wants to help her mother earn income by selling perfume. She has a sewing machine at home and has taken a course of learning from Dina.

Supervisor of Small Enterprise Development Loans - Salwa Abdu

Salwa Abdu
Supervisor of Small Enterprise Development Loans


Salwa is given the responsibility for the supervision and implementation of the SED lending activity. She supervises Fayzia and takes an active role in assessing the business prospects of the potential borrowers.

Salwa sees a significant advantage of the SED program since women especially those who are disabled, typically stay at home and could be more productive with the aid of a small loan. Women especially those in the villages, need the loans more since life is much more difficult and they need additional income since men do not provide sufficient money to feed the family and to buy their small needs. Loans are for small animals and even cattle, seeds for small scale farming as well as for sewing machines. Banks do not provide this type of lending to unsecured borrowers. In this way ADRA are providing an essential service.

Salwa was born in Saudi Arabia and schooled in Jeddah before returning to Hais with her parents who were originally from the area. Her father worked with a gold mining company and learned to speak English. He then taught Salwa to speak English and she is able to communicate effectively. Salwa is married and is in the early stages of a pregnancy – she says the only one. She is one of 10 sisters and brothers although 4 of her siblings have died through lack of vaccination

Salwa has seen changes in peoples lives in Hais since the inception of the ADRA program in 1996. She hopes that the ADRA Hais program will be continued.

Canadian visitor to ADRA in Hais

Paul Fish
Canadian visitor to ADRA in Hais

Paul is a first time visitor to Yemen at the personal invitation of Marie Ann Fernandez whom he met while working as a volunteer in Sierra Leone. Paul comes from Toronto and is en-route, returning to Sierra Leone for another 6 months of work. He is a Chartered Surveyor and volunteers some time with municipalities in developing countries to mobilise their own source revenues; largely property taxes and business taxes. http://www.paulinsierraleone.blogspot.com/

Here is a picture of Paul with Marie Anne and Rita on a trip to Hodeidah overlooking the Red Sea.

On his arrival in Hais, Marie Ann found Paul a useful job at ADRA, to create a newsletter for Canadian readers and others interested to follow the ADRA activities in Hais. Over the past 10 days Paul has looked at all of the activities carried out at the clinic and at the office and he has travelled to the villages of Fash and Khocha. He also accompanied many of the ADRA team to the nearby City of Hodeidah to search for suitable wheelchairs. In preparation for the newsletter Paul suggested creating a web log so that the ADRA office in Hais can keep in touch with it’s supporters in other parts of the world. Marie Ann agreed and so this new communication is started. Hassan the Financial Assistant is the ADRA Hais English translator and he has enthusiastically agreed to maintain the blog as frequently as possible.

Paul arrived in Sanna’a on a rest day, Saturday Oct 18 and even though he was not an official ADRA visitor he was greeted at the airport by the Country Director Nagi Khalil and Marie Ann. We all travelled back to Nagi’s home where a large brunch was served by his wife Lindy and their two children. The afternoon was spent touring and hiking through the surrounding spectacular hills around Sana’a and visiting a local hotel for traditional serving of coffee. The Yemeni reputation for friendliness is well earned.

Here is a picture of Paul and the hills near Sana'a

Vocational instructor for weaving - Hussein Hassan

Hussein Hassan
Vocational instructor for weaving

Hussein works under Dina giving vocational instruction, specifically weaving the cloth that is worn locally by both men and women. The cloth called a “Mactab” is used for skirt and head covering and is quite intricate and detailed, used everyday but importantly also for ceremonial purposes. The cloth is also used for furniture covering and other such purposes. The skill is valued in all of Yemen and there are jobs that graduates will find.

Hussein instructs 6 students, both male and female and one third of the students are disabled. The course lasts 6 months, requiring 3 hours per day and 4 times per week in order to graduate. ADRA has acquired 4 weaving machines for instruction but at the moment 1 machine requires repair. Hussein has been working with ADRA for 8 months and enjoys this opportunity.

To learn this detailed cultural art, Hussein recently graduated from a total of 12 months of varied training firstly in Zabid, then Beit Fakeh and then Hodeidah. He really enjoys his work and also takes some satisfaction from giving instruction in reading and writing skills.

Hussein is 25 years old and was born and raised in Hais. He is engaged to be married but still lives with his parents in Hais with his 9 brothers and sisters. He would like to have a different life from his parents and would like to have only 2 children and 1 wife.

Hussein’s ambition is to continue his full time weaving instruction and helping with others at ADRA. He sees great potential in giving vocational training so that students, in particular the disabled can find useful employment or even start a business. A weaving machine costs about $250 which is quite expensive but perhaps this might be considered for a small business loan.

ADRA is to be thanked for recognizing the importance of vocational training for local people in Hais where there is high unemployment. Hussein thanks the ADRA donors and hopes that the program will be continued.

Community Based Rehabilitation worker - Fatma Saleh

Fatma Saleh
Community Based Rehabilitation worker

Fatma works with people mainly in the communities surrounding Hais. She travels with patients who are referred to hospitals for treatment, in particular women, to protect and care for them. A large part of her responsibility is to raise awareness of health issues in the small communities. In addition to her CBR duties she also helps Rita in the physiotherapy clinic and in the field with documentation. Fatma also helps in the treatment and training room. Overall she tries to be useful to all in the office.

Fatma who heard of the ADRA program in 1999, immediately considered this such a valuable service to the community and saw an opportunity to start her work at ADRA at this time. She gives treatments such as exercises and massage under the direction of Rita. Fatma has been trained by ADRA in Sana’a for physiotherapy using a social fund. She also found it useful to attend a 1 week training course in sign language in the nearby city of Taiz. Later she attended a 3 week course in physiotherapy in Aden.

Awareness raising is important function for Fatma, focused on the causes and prevention of disability, a service she considers important for pregnant women. She teaches mothers how to deal with their disabled children’s issues and how to integrate these children into the community. Fatma also identifies those that need to be referred to hospitals for treatment.

Fatma was born in the village of Hodeid near Hais but now lives in Hais with her 4 siblings and mother. She is single and wants to marry a rich husband and inShallah to have 2 children.

Fatma’s ambition is to help build a centre for disabled in Hais. She hopes that ADRA will contune to support such causes since ADRA has done so much good. People generally have now changed their attitude to those with disabilities and Fatma sees a great success in this area.

Sewing and Handicrafts - Dina Ismail

Dina Ismail
Supervisor of Sewing and handicrafts

Dina, heads this area of the ADRA Hais office and she has been with ADRA now for 7 years. Having learned her skills from her family she has given instruction for hundreds of women over the time she has been with ADRA. She is so happy that there are now a large proportion of people able who can carry out basic skills. Dina instructs from a very small 12 ft x 12 ft room at the ADRA office and has 18 people on a 6 month course who come three times per week. She also supervises the weaving class taught by Hussein. In addition Dina travels extensively to the villages where she also gives instruction.

Once the students have completed the 6 month course and have achieved some proficiency then some are offered a sewing machine on the basis of small enterprise development (SED) loan to be paid back over 8 months. The loan carries interest at just 1% and is paid back weekly.

The items produced are mainly clothing that is worn by children and by women under their black “abaya”. The clothes are very colourful with interesting designs and Dina expresses her sadness that for traditional reasons the clothes are not seen in public. In addition to clothing the women crochet small items such as head wear and table decoration.

Dina was born in Hais and she grew up with her 7 brothers and 5 sisters. She is young but does not intend to marry, preferring to help disabled people cope and survive with a small enterprise. Her ambition is to start a small scale manufacture of clothing using the extensive skilled labor that is available locally in Hais.

Challenges facing Dina are the very small size of the room for the demand for her instruction and the number of machines required. However she thanks ADRA considerably for helping with the people of Hais.

Sign Language specialist -Bakil Hashem

Bakil Hashem,
Sign language specialist

Bakil has a dual role within ADRA as an instructor for sign language, reading and writing as well as lip reading. He is also a resource specialist for mental patients. As a child psychologist he also gives training for those children who are referred by local schools for behavior issues.

Bakil was born and raised in Hais, and attended secondary school with Hassan the ADRA Financial Assistant. Bakil claims that he was always ahead of Hassan in class, a claim that Hassan does not refute. Bakil later studied at the University of Taiz for 4 years, earning a BA degree in Disability Learning which he completed in 2005. He is now studying for his Masters Degree. In addition to his work at ADRA, Bakil is also a teacher at a local Hais school. He lives in Hais with his wife and one child, a small 15 month old girl named Anhars (Dreams).

Bakil gives sign language instruction 3 days per week to 9 children and 3 adults. However there are many more who need the instruction, and he estimates between 30 and 40. Many of these people live in the rural areas and the women in particular are not able to travel, so are unable to attend.

ADRA provides the classroom for instruction but Bakil hopes that ADRA will also be able to provide him with a resource room for the disabled with educational aids and a computer. He has learned how to use the computer and knows that there are a significant number of software programs that can help disabled children in particular.

Bakil’s hopes for the future are that ADRA will continue it’s support for programs in Hais and that ADRA will be the Centre for the disabled in the region.

Project Co-ordinator - Abdullah Yassin

Abdullah Mohammed Yassin
Project Co-ordinator

Abdullah has a wealth of experience, a long-standing and most critical team member who has been with ADRA since the inception in 1995. He co-ordinates the ADRA Hais project and as a well known and respected person in the community, Abdullah acts as a link with the local authority, the Hais City Council. He is also the rehabilitation and physiotherapist for male patients, providing supervision to Rita and Fatma. Abdullah forms part of the management team and a critical part of the office/clinic and in the wider community of Hais and Khoka. Ms Fernandez the Program Manager says “he is a pillar of ADRA Yemen”

Educated in Hais, Abdullah was born in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia and returned to Hais where he attended secondary school and then went on to earn a Diploma in Science at Taiz University. He is 41, married and has 4 children. Although his family is traditional, his wife does allow Abdullah to cook meals!

Abdullah started with ADRA when they opened the Hais office in 1995. ADRA originally provided a car, equipment and computers to the management of the program carried out by a local organization Al Mustataqbal. From 2001 ADRA conducted their own management, directly employed it’s team of people and operated from the building they currently occupy. Over the years there have been a number of ADRA programs Abdullah has been involved with such as Landmines Victims Assistance, Womens Literacy, Drug Revolving Fund, Vitamin A and Iron Project for women, Primary Health Care, City Water System, Polio immunization etc.

ADRA has been in Hais for a long period and this has been a huge benefit to the community. It is true that there is a City Council that is responsible for the community but they are poor and not able to provide needs such as health. The council has relied on ADRA and has not been inclined to change. However to avoid dependency, the City Council needs to gradually take control of services in the future and raise the funds needed, locally from taxes.

Apart from his desire to learn English, Abdullah’s hopes for the future are simply that life will be better especially for his children’s generation with better education and health care. He hopes that his children will study and become professionals or engineers, ultimately helping the community to progress. ADRA is an essential social service that has significantly helped the Hais community to achieve their dreams and he hopes that this will continue. Abdullah likes to receive e-mail and so please contact him at Abdullah.yasin1@yahoo.comTelephone 771907085 or 03360064

Loan Officer - Faysia Khalil

Faysia Khalil is the Loan Officer of the small enterprise development program (SED)– the lending of small amounts to mainly women entrepreneurs. Faysia also the assignment of Educational Officer.

Faysia runs the small enterprise development program for the Adra Hais office. The program was only recently started in March 2007 and has proved effective. The program already has 70 loans repaid and a further 130 loans outstanding totaling $9,230. Faysia is also responsible for the education program for mothers covering areas of nutrition, breast feeding, and health.

Faysia is a 26 year old resident of Hais, a mother of one child and who lives with her mother and father in Hais but her husband had to go to Saudi Arabia to find suitable work. Faysia was educated in Hais and has her Certificate of Secondary Education. A workshop in Hodeidah provided an introduction to micro finance and her knowledge has been supplemented by her experience at the Adra office. Faysia hopes to complete her studies by attending college at some future date.

The SED loans are targeted at women who are mostly disabled and many of whom have taken advantage of the health benefits and facilities at Adra in Hais. Non of the loans has formal security or guarantees normally required at a bank. The purposes of the loans are to buy a variety of capital items ranging from sewing machines, workshop equipment, farming tools and even small animals such as sheep. Trade merchandise is a frequent purpose of loans such as perfume, ice crème, clothing and vegetables. Typically a first loan is for a modest amount of $50 and if that is repaid then a loan of $100 and even $150 is available. Loans are for 8 months and repaid on a weekly basis with interest at 1%, well below a bank cost at 20% or more. According to Faysia very few loans present repayment problems and she is very happy about the progress of this program.

The benefit to the community of Hais is that a large group of mainly disabled women can achieve independence and can be empowered to control their own lives rather than become dependent on others for support.