U.S. Travel Ban Could Deny Me Attend My International Free Press Award Ceremony

When the Committee to Protect Journalists announced two months ago that I was one of the awardees of this year's International Free Press Award (IFPA), I knew I was about to undertake a bittersweet step in my almost decade-long journalism career.

The CPJ explained that, from the Arab region, they had chosen Yemen this year, in order to shine a light on the conditions in which Yemeni journalists work, and also to celebrate my reporting on Yemen, despite all the obstacles.

But in the age of US President Donald Trump's travel ban - which includes Yemeni nationals - I became increasingly concerned about travelling to the US to receive the award.

In addition to an invitation to the awards ceremony in New York, the CPJ have also organised for me to meet with State Department officials in DC, and university staff to raise awareness about violations against Yemeni journalists and the humanitarian crisis in my war-torn homeland.

While there are good reasons why I should travel to the US and join the CPJ, my two US visa applications to date have been rejected by the American embassy in Stockholm, Sweden. I am currently applying for the third time, and I am not optimistic.

Sweden became my second home after I arrived here in May 2011 from Yemen, after being invited to participate in a youth leadership training course. I left with just two weeks of luggage, thinking I'd soon be back home.

Not wanting to wake my mother before my late-night flight, I left without much of a goodbye. But as the violence escalated in my hometown, Sanaa, and I was at risk following the death threats I was receiving for my anti-regime writings during the beginning of Yemen's 2011 uprising, Sweden became the place where I had to seek political asylum.

As the conflict in Yemen continued, I remained in Sweden and continued freelance reporting on Yemen for various media outlets. In a bid to stay in contact with my family and friends in Yemen, and the diaspora abroad, I've used every channel of communication I can.

For the past six years in Sweden, I have been on constant alert, hunting my next Yemen story. While I could have put Yemen to the back of my mind, and settled down in Sweden, continuing to write felt like the most meaningful thing I could do.

Determined to expose the under-reported war in Yemen, I found that reporting from exile resembled being in a long-distant relationship, with all the love and longing that comes with geographical separation.

A year and a half year ago, I became a Swedish citizen. I could travel freely and was also enjoying living by choice in Sweden. Today, I am both Swedish and Yemeni citizen, though my Yemeni passport expired a while ago.

This makes me a privileged Yemeni in comparison to my fellow countrymen, and especially my journalist colleagues who are all trapped in war.

My Swedish passport enabled me to travel around for work until Trump's travel ban came into the picture. The proposed travel ban has gone through various iterations, but what I know for sure is that my visa applications to the US embassy in Stockholm were rejected because of it.

The first time, applying as a Swedish citizen, "you are not authorized to enter the US" was the response that came. My second application was made as a Yemeni citizen. After I made it to the interview with the embassy officer, she told me that I had failed to show my ties to Sweden and that there was no guarantee that I would return to the "foreign country" - that is Sweden - after my visit to the US.


In both applications, I was asked if I had been in Yemen anytime from March 2011 (that's when the executive order comes into effect). Of course, I had been. The application asked me to justify my visit to Yemen and I told the truth: I had a life in Yemen - family, friends and work.

I will find out by Monday if my third application has been successful. In the meantime, I want my story to help raise the profile of other Yemeni journalists, working hard to make the world understand the brutal suffering of a nation.

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*My latest column published on The New Arab today. 

In International #DayoftheGirl, Here are my Yemeni Women Heroes

In International #DayoftheGirl, Here are my Yemeni Women Heroes. Mothers of abducted young men in Houthi-led prisons @abducteesmother association, and women and girls survivors of Houthis’ bullets and shelling in Taiz. Mothers of jailed young men have tirelessly been demonstrating in front of prisons’ gates in Sana’a, Ibb, Houdaidah and other cities, over the past two years. A spokesperson from the association told me over the phone that they believe that there are more than 5,000 forcibly disappeared young men (journalists, teachers, activists and from all walks of life) held in Houthi-led jails for two years and more. Many of them are held with no trail or any access for their families to see them.

Women in Taiz, like all in Taiz, have been subjected to atrocities under the hands of Houthi forces and other (emerging) extremist groups. The photo here shows two daughters of a woman who was executed in front of them a few days ago by Houthi forces after Houthimen stormed into their house looking after the daughters’ father. The father was known to be an anti-Houthi activist. Taiz has been under siege by Houthi forces since almost the beginning of the war. Deadly attacks and massive killings by Houthi forces have become the new norm in the city. These little daughter's’ story is only a face to the agony everyone in the city is going through.

One of the daughters collapsed in front of the camera as she described what she witnessed.

Here's the father explains how exactly the crime happened.





It’s hard for the international audience to know about the atrocities committed by Houthis forces as many local Yemeni journalists are whether imprisoned, living in hid in villages, or displaced in neighbouring countries or definitely they are self-censoring themselves fearing of Houthis’ crackdown. 

Even if a Yemeni journalist is trying to report from outside the country, there seem to be a little appetite from editors to have such stories. The trend shows that there is more interest to focus on the Saudi-led coalition committed atrocities, as such stories make more relevance to the international audience.


This is absolutely not to dismiss Saudi-led coalition atrocities or to equate warring sides’ crimes but this is an invitation to broaden your context. Between Yemenis, they know well that the Saleh-Houthis alliance is what started all this mess after they blocked all political progress and outcomes of Yemen’s National Dialogue Conference in mid-2014. And the rest is history. 

Millions of Yemeni women, along with men and children, are victims of all warring parties' atrocities across the country. In fact, the Saudi-led coalition shares great responsibility of leaving Taiz under Houthis' fire so it can have victims bloody photos raised at the international stage to prove how Houthis are savage. The Saudis could have achieved in Taiz what they achieved in Aden. But you do the calculation.

I will take this day to pay tribute to the struggle of mothers, daughters and sisters of Yemen war victims. No rosy story to tell about Yemeni girls inside or outside. The reality is so grim.

'Sana'a Review' e-magazine is here!

After lots of hurdles, along with a group of great Yemeni writers/friends, we launched 'Sana'a Review' online magazine on 22nd September and I'm the editor-in-chief.

The love & support my blog has gotten over the years is beyond what I ever imagined & I want to Give Back! I want to amplify other great Yemeni voices. I want to pass on the spotlight to the great (& emerging) Yemeni writers/journalists/artists/talents. True, Yemen is in a reck & journalists particularly are at most bleak conditions but that's exactly why we need to record what's happening to us now so there will be a time when peace prevail & we can reflect & try to heal & commemorate our history. We need to not mourn, rather organize. Each with whatever capacity they have, we need to resist & persist (like Suheir Hamdan once said).

The magazine is in Arabic because 1. I need to get in good terms with my identity crisis with the Arabic language as I believe I spoke Arabic & Amharic (Ethiopia's official language) at the same time when I first spoke as a kid. Then English became a buffer zone. Anyhow, I write more about that in the magazine in an article titled (Yemenia from Addis Ababa). *i like the title* #wink

2. Because our focus is the Yemeni audience. Sana'a Review's team believes that it's very important to combat the expansion of local propagandist media outlets & also play a role as an independent media outlet bridging people in Yemen with the growing Yemeni diaspora.

Sana'a Review hopes to have an English version in the near future so anyone anywhere can enjoy our content. You may know more details about the mission of the magazine at my Sana'a Review opening article. Also, here are our Twitter, Facebook, Instagram accounts.

Ever since I joined journalism in end 2008, I dreamt of founding a magazine. Every time I pitch to my editors & my emails convincing them of my idea tend to be longer than the final published article itself, I dreamt of founding a magazine so I can easily get published. Every time I watch Anna Wintour of Vogue magazine, I dream of being better than Anna herself & create a meaningful magazine, with all respect to the fashionistas in the world. Every time,,, enough. It's here. It's happeninnnnnng (with Oprah Winfrey voice at the back) 💥❤️💓

Yemeni woman activist refuses to give up following death threats

A demonstration in Aden demanding "Justice for the prisoners and justice for the innocent"
with pictures of those detained held up (Image courtesy of Huda al-Sarari)

*Human rights lawyer Huda al-Sarari says she fears for her life after denouncing torture in secret prisons in Aden.

Huda al-Sarari was called a liar, a mercenary and even a “whore” on social media, during a vicious online campaign against the Yemeni human rights lawyer. Her ordeal began in June after she spoke out against torture in secret prisons allegedly run by the United Arab Emirates in Aden.

Sarari, who documented the abuses during an investigation and spoke about it to the media, said that her phone was stolen from her home, her car was attacked and she received death threats following the campaign. “I was afraid to leave my house or speak to media for more than a month,” Sarari told Middle East Eye. “But now, I want the word out, at least, about the dreadful experience [human rights activists have to] bear."

The defamation campaign against Sarari started in June on social media, after Human Rights Watch and the Associated Press published two separate investigations accusing the UAE of running secret prisons in Yemen, where many people were reportedly tortured and abused. She is one of the rights lawyers who documented the testimonies of torture victims held in the secret prisons and delivered them to HRW. She also gave interviews regarding her findings on several prominent media outlets after the reports came out.

HRW documented the cases of 49 people, including four children, who were arbitrarily detained or forcibly disappeared in the Aden and Hadramawt governates over the last year. At least 38 appear to have been arrested or detained by UAE-backed security forces. Multiple sources, including Yemeni government officials, have reported the existence of a number of informal detention centers and prisons in Aden and Hadramawt, including at least two run by the UAE and others run by UAE-backed Yemeni security forces.

The UAE Foreign Ministry denied running any secret prisons in Yemen and called the accusations "an attempt to sully the reputation of the alliance that had intervened to save the Yemeni people". The UAE is a key member of the Saudi-led and US-backed military campaign to support Yemen’s toppled government against Shia Houthi rebels, which was launched in March 2015. 

A protest in Aden demanding rights for prisoners (courtesy of Huda al-Sarari)

According to a draft United Nations report seen by Reuters on Thursday, the Saudi-led military coalition was responsible for an "unacceptably high" 51 percent of child deaths and injuries in Yemen last year. In January, the UN said that since the Saudi-led coalition intervened in 2015, the death toll has risen to at least 10,000 civilians.

One of the posts attacking Sarari stated that “the so-called Huda al-Sarari works in disguise with human rights groups, while she actually reports to political and security foreign parties, jeopardising [the] South’s interests and its goal for liberation." The Emergency Committee for Civil Society Organisations in Aden condemned the acts of defamation against Sarari and her family in a statement which spread on social media following the smear campaign. “The objective of this [campaign] is to reduce any efforts to defend human rights,” the statement said.

One day after the online attacks started on 23 June, Sarari and her family said they began to receive death threats. Sarari said that her phone was stolen from inside her home in Aden. Nothing else was taken from her house. The same day, her car windows were smashed. She added that her internet connection at home was deliberately cut off by an unknown person. Shortly after that, an acquaintance paid her a visit at her office to deliver her a "message" telling her that she should "be careful of your coming steps, otherwise you will risk your life", according to Sarari.




Family targeted

Sarari graduated in Sharia and Law from Aden University in 2011. She also holds a master's degree in Women's Studies and Development from the Women's Centre at Aden University.

She has been working in human rights activism for almost 10 years, gaining experience at numerous local organisations such as the Yemeni Women's Union, the Adala Foundation for Rights and Freedoms and the National Committee to Investigate Allegations of Human Rights Violations. She has also volunteered to work with Amnesty International and HRW.

With this experience, Sarari is accustomed to criticism. But this latest attack was something she has never experienced before. Sarari was disturbed by the posts, which she said were very personal and attacked her husband and children while identifying where they lived and even the car she drove. Her family was terrified when the social media campaign gained momentum. Huda’s mother, who preferred not to disclose her name, told MEE that, “if Huda is not fearful for her life, she must be fearful for the safety of her children," she said. "And because Huda is a woman, they go after her honour and this is unacceptable in our society.”


Sarari agrees that the worst part of the campaign launched against her is the libel and slander, which could bring shame to her whole family in the conservative society of Yemen. “As you may know, Yemen is a conservative society, in which women’s honour is perceived as sacred,” Sarari said. “Calling me degrading words like a whore has a stronger negative impact on me than it does if it were directed against a male activist.”

But others have also come to her defence. One Facebook post stated: "She said a word of truth against injustice, while you cheer for injustice, you who defame her honour should get whipped as a punishment according to our Sharia - that’s if there is any sharia in our land."

Human rights lawyer Huda al-Sarari working at the headquarters of the Yemeni Women's
Union in Aden (Photo courtesy of Huda al-Sarari)

"Quit your activism"

According to the HRW report, the court system in Aden is largely not functioning because of the war. Although the prosecutor’s office continues to issue release orders for people, these orders are ignored by security forces controlling the area. As a result, Sarari has found it futile to report threats against her to the prosecution and seek protection. "There is no chance to report threats today to the attorney general like we used to before, as it has been out of commission, impacted by the general instability," she said.

Aden is under the control of the Security Belt, a southern force taking part in the war. According to the HRW report issued in June, the "Security Belt" forces, are backed by the UAE. They have been accused of many abuses including excessive force during arrests and raids, detaining children, causing forcible disappearances and detaining family members of wanted suspects to pressure them to “voluntarily” turn themselves in, according to HRW. Sarari avoided approaching the "Security Belt" forces, given their links to the UAE. Instead, she contacted influential Yemeni political leaders.

"They couldn’t promise me much protection,” Sarari laughs and continues: “One [political leader] literally told me, 'how about you quit your activism and avoid facing risks?'”  For now, Sarari is taking basic safety measures such as limiting her movement, especially at night.

Kristine Beckerle, Yemen and UAE researcher at HRW told MEE: “Female activists like Huda al-Sarari are fighting every day for more rights protections, yet instead of addressing the important issues these [activists] are rising, many instead have faced smear campaigns, death threats, or a myriad of other challenges." "This is not only incredibly unfair to, and often very dangerous for, the women and men who have dedicated their lives to pushing for a more justice-oriented Yemen, but damaging to any future hope for a stable, rights-respecting state," she added.


According to local reports, there have been other instances where female activists have been subjected to similar online campaigns, like Radhya al-Mutawakel, who heads Mwatana, a human rights group based in Sanaa. In March, she was one of the speakers who addressed human rights violations in Yemen at the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington. She said that all parties in Yemen were committing human rights violations including the Houthi rebel group and the Saudi-led coalition.

The Yemeni embassy in Washington sent a letter trying to discourage congressional aides from attending the briefing in Washington. The embassy accused local speakers, including al-Mutawakel, of having a political “agenda” tied to Houthi rebels fighting against the government of President Abdu Rabbuh Mansour Hadi. The claim was denied by the event's organisers. Sarari said it was up to the main parties in the war, including the Yemeni government and the UAE, to restrain the armed groups and protect rights workers, especially women.

“I wish I had better advice for women activists in terms of how to protect themselves or could give clear answers on what human rights organisations could do to protect them," said Beckerle , "but, it really comes down to the authorities - to the Yemeni government and other actors like the UAE exercising influence over armed groups and fighting forces in Aden to be doing far more to ensure that there is space for men and women to speak out, advocate and do the work crucial to Yemen’s future."


'They depend on me'
Even though Sarari admits to being scared, she is determined to continue her work and has never considered quitting. Although it has been a difficult time for them, her family and husband offer their unconditional support and simply ask that she is careful. Part of Sarari’s many commitments are her assignments within the legal team of the Yemeni Women's Union. Its work includes offering legal protection for women in personal status cases and protecting the rights of female prisoners.

“Working with these women is like a driving force for me,” Sarari concluded. “Many abused women’s cases depend on me, so I have to ignore the threats and get up again and continue working.”

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*My latest article published at Middle East Eye, on 21st of August.

My Speech at Casa Arabe Yemen Event

Casa Arabe's Yemen event announcement. 

My presentation yesterday was titled 'Yemen, Women & Politics' exploring Yemeni women's situation before, during & after Yemen's 2011 Uprising. Photo by: Felipe Medina Gutierrez. 

Thank you, Casa Arabe for the invitation! It’s my first time to be in Spain and I am very pleased to be here. In a time, Yemen is not getting sufficient attention in the media and international platforms, today’s event revives some hope for me that there is still a sense of international solidarity or at least an interest to know about the grave tragedy unfolding in Yemen.

I was asked to present an outlook on Yemeni women’s political engagement starting from Yemen’s 2011 uprising to the course of the ongoing multi-fronts Yemen war in about 10 minutes or so, which would be impossible to do. So, I will try to narrow down the outlook and explore Yemeni women’s position in politics briefly within three phases: before, during and after the uprising. The uprising that I personally owe so much to in establishing my own political awareness and activism. As a Yemeni working as a journalist since late 2008, I don’t believe in objective journalism anymore. I rather believe in reflective journalism, in which a journalist aims to challenge and question power. And as a woman, I would be lying if I say that I am not biased to women - so you are listening to the perspective of a feminist and reflective Yemeni journalist. This is very crucial to stress on at the beginning because the polarisation in Yemen war compels you to identify your position in any Yemen-related political debate. Many say if you are pro this it means you are against that and vice versa. For me, I am anti-war mainly because war is a gender issue - women tend to be the first victims of wars and my fellow women are bearing the greatest burden of the war. With that said, I am not dismissing the many powerful survivor and hero women we have. Also, I define myself as anti-violence committed by all warring sides; because I refuse to be biased. All sides are evil butchering Yemeni lives with impunity and these atrocities must be condemned from all and anyone.

Now, In order to explore the situation of Yemeni women, I prepared this slide show of few photos that could illustrate few aspects.

They often say that behind every man is a great woman. Well, I think that behind every great woman is a great woman. That’s my mother in Sana’a, celebrating my 3 years birthday party. This great mother fought 5 years at courts to get divorced from my abusive father.

Despite that the two Yemens, you know the north and the south, were the first countries in the Arabian Peninsula to issue a comprehensive marriage law, gender justice was a battleground for many decades in Yemen. As time is limited, I can only say that by 1992 a joint Personal Status law was established which not only mixed local custom with Sharia but it also left marriage laws change in time echoing the general political debates. This greatly undermined women’s rights. A well-known example of this can be seen in the child marriage issue in Yemen.

2008, Yemen - Lawyer Shatha Nasser and Nojoud. Nasser defended the 8-years-old girl,
Nojoud at courts to get divorced from her 32-years-old husband. 

While more than half of Yemen’s female population are married off before they reach 18, and while Yemen’s female population endures one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world, as they are often mothers at age of 9 or 10 or 13, both institutionalised system and devastating economic situation allow this practice to expand. Women’s rights campaigners have exerted great effort to legally ban child marriage. Here is a picture from a protest in front of Yemen’s parliament in Sana’a in 2010 calling for the ban.

2010, Yemen - That's actually me, joining the anti-Child-Marriage protest in front of Yemeni parliament building in Sana'a. 

Next day, Yemen's Islamist party, the Islah party mobilised its women to hold a counter-protest to the previous one, basically to support child marriage.

When the revolution came, women were the ones leading the uprising in 2011. Nobel laureate Tawakkol Karman is the most well-known example. Also, the uprising represented an opportunity for female opinion leaders, activists, writers and intellectuals to challenge the social construction that was boxing and demeaning them.

Unfortunately, women were used also as a decorative tool by different male-dominated political parties in the uprising. Beyond that superficial role, they were not welcome. Only one protest defied that manipulative usage, as it tried embracing a conscious feminist vision, but it had an unfortunate end. It was April 2011. A group of women activists wanted to make a feminist and political statement in response to ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh’s decree condemning the mixing of the sexes in the protests. The female protesters and their male supporters marched together and were attacked right there in the street by men affiliated with General Ali Mohsin, the powerful army man who held power at the time. The Lesson learned from that incident is that in Yemen Men’s political power was larger than women’s feminist power.

When the political transition process began in 2013, women fought for and won a quota of 30 percent representation in the National Dialogue Conference. But with the Houthi takeover in September 2014, the transitional process has taken a violent turn, and in the attempts to launch a peace process, the need for women’s participation in negotiations was hardly mentioned. At that time, when the different factions were approached by female political activists, the parties used to say that, “it’s not a priority now to include women; …. once peace prevails women might join,” — as if women’s role was secondary.

As the Saudi-led coalition began its military operation in March 2015, that was also the starting point for not only worsening the already fragile humanitarian situation in Yemen but also the collapse of any existing semi-political process. Today, after about 2 years and half of multi-fronts armed confrontations across the country, Yemenis are being trapped and starved into death. Today, the largest humanitarian crisis in the world is in Yemen - even beyond Syria or anywhere else. According to UN reports, more than 10 thousands people have been killed and I am certain that the death toll is higher as generally if the bullets won’t kill you, the famine, and the almost totally paralyzed healthcare system and the spread of diseases like Cholera will kill you. About 17 million people are barely surviving as they are one step into famine. Total famine is not declared yet, but the UN humanitarian chief said two weeks ago that Yemen is facing "total social, economic and institutional collapse". And I quote him, "The people of Yemen are being subjected to deprivation, disease and death as the world watches. Crisis is not coming, it is not looming, it is here today - on our watch," end of quote. And I stress on the fact that women bear the greatest burden of war. Two weeks ago, a lady in Ibb city in Yemen poisoned herself and two daughters and committed suicide as the mother had nothing and could not go begging for help.

Not to forget that child marriage among little girls is increasing rapidly as a result of the economic devastation and the increasing rate of displacement. A week ago, I called my family in Sana’a, and I was told that one of my old friend’s husband just had a second wife whose only 15 years old. It would be no exaggeration in saying that this war has affected every single household in Yemen.

Midst of all this tragic situation, I would like to share some of the political manifestations done by women.

In this picture you can see a lady is about to bike. As the war began in 2015, in Sana’a, a young activist, Bushra al Fusail led a group of women to bike to defy the fuel shortages, and the Saudi-led airstrikes and gender stereotypes.

In the other picture you can see that women taking up arms to fight. This picture was taken in Taiz and normally they are fighting the Houthis. Then, also in Sana’a, the Houthis have organized women marches with their weapons. So Pro-Houthi women too have been mobilized in supporting what’s called “the military effort” المجهود الحربي through donating money or sending food to the frontlines at the battlefield and so on.

Also, in response to the zero representation of women in Yemen’s several peace talks, Women’s Pact for Peace and Security was established by a group of Yemeni politicians and activists, a body that is endorsed by the UN women. Here in the picture you can see one of my blog posts, being cynical to the zero representation of women in the peace talks. “Yemen’s Peace Talks! Congrats, you have an all-male panel!”

Also, as massive numbers of forcibly disappeared young men from activists, journalists and other have been detained or abducted by Houthi men and other extremist groups in different parts of Yemen, the female relatives of these men; whether their mothers, sisters or daughters came together to establish a sort of an association called, ‘Mothers of the detainees’. I find it one of the remarkable grassroot groups in Yemen. Make sure to follow them on twitter.

As I am heavily engaged in media, it concerns me very much the condition of freedom of expression. Yemeni press is under heavy crackdown primarily by the rebels group, the Houthi and also other extremist militia groups and this not to dismiss that there is a great deal of media blackout on Yemen war as Saudi Arabia has bought many media houses and international PR companies. In this atmosphere of no space for free expression, women experience the crackdown in two dimensions; one because of the general status quo and second just because they are females. So, in the Yemeni public debate, some women opinion leaders are targeted and intimidated just because they are females. And I find it very problematic the misogyny used in images to demean male politicians. This is even seen globally. It is absolutely disturbing to me as a female.

During my presentation at Casa Arabe Yemen event. Photo by: Felipe Medina Gutierrez. 

Now, just to conclude, I think what’s very relevant for you to know is that we can’t talk about women’s issues without talking about militarism which Spain has a huge role in. In Yemen war, there have been massive war crimes; hospitals, mosques, weddings, schools, funerals and other non-combatant civilians’ areas have been all targeted. Human rights groups have reported last year that One in three Saudi air raids on Yemen hit civilian sites. And despite all these reports Westernrn governments, including countries from the European Union have been some of the top suppliers of weapons to the Saudi-led coalition members. And My message here would be: enough with double-standards from EU countries. Enough with preaching about Human rights and at the same time collaborating with states that are committing atrocities with a European-made weapon. This can only be reverted by you, the EU citizens; through one being better informed about the atrocities committed by say, Spanish-made weapon, or Uk-made weapon, and etc. And two by you questioning your government and politicians; at least ask: can we investigate how our weapon is being used? Is it used in a way that violates international human rights laws?

The tragedy in Yemen; it’s not a natural disaster. It’s a man-made tragedy. And us, the mankind can affirm our humanity and work together to end this tragedy. And in this Yemenis need your solidarity, now.  And thank you!

Postcard from 'We Have a Dream'

We can't fake dreams, can we? Dreams are actually things no one can fake to have. And that's the beauty of them. 'We Have a Dream' photo exhibition tried to capture that and I had the pleasure to be part of it. Five years ago, I received an email from Oscar Edlund asking me if I would like to be part of his and Albert Wiking coming photography project, 'We Have a Dream' in which they are touring the world taking portraits of people who dared to make a difference in pursuit of realising their dreams. Obviously, Oscar and Albert contacted me because they found value in my blogging work. Well, while I find my work to be imperfect, my dream for a better Yemen is absolute. I wrote and still write and will always keep on writing; dreaming of how my imperfect work could contribute -even a tiny bit- in prevailing peace and change for Yemen. Though, I don't write dreams; it's rather that I write my people's cruel reality in Yemen.

Fast-forward, earlier this year, the photography exhibition saw the light in Stockholm in which it showcases more than 100 portraits of leaders, activists, writers, artists and more who inspire the world with their stories of courage. I was delighted to be in the photography exhibition with my portrait along with portraits of Noam Chomsky, Maryam al-Khawaja, Leymah Gbowee, Malala Yousafzai among many others.

On the 21st of May, I was co-speaking in the exhibition opening in Umeå in Sweden and the following pictures are quick snapshots from the event.

With Albert Wiking heading to Umeå. 

We got so lucky in Umeå. It was so sunny.

We went to check the venue at västerbotten museum before the opening next day. 

Bahraini human rights activist, Maryam al-Khawaja is one of my heroes. 

Tunisian blogger and human rights activist, Lina ben Mhenni is one of the reasons why I became a blogger. I watched an interview with her late 2010 and thought; If she can do it I can do it.

I posed next to my photo in awe of my 5-years younger self who came to be the woman I am today. It's not so clear but that's the Yemeni flag am wrapped up with.

It almost took Oscar Edlund and Albert Wiking more than 10 years to materialise the 'We Have a Dream' project. The patience, the commitment and the perseverance. Man!

I forgot to mention that 'We Have a Dream' photography could be found in books, both in Swedish and English. I was lucky to get a signed copy by Albert. 

 The opening day, more and more sun. 

 Oscar and Albert were featured in several newspapers that day. Oscar found time to take pictures, even though the opening was about to kick off in few minutes.  

I was co-speaking with human rights defender Samuel Opio from Uganda.

After my speech, to spice things up, we had a group-selfie.