After years of not being used, the old road was in a terrible state. Trees had fallen, blocking the route, and parts of the road had washed away, making it bumpy. As a result, people in the village struggled to access the basics of healthcare and education – patients couldn’t reach hospitals to receive treatment and Nada remembers a time that a female student took a risky sub-road through the hills to get to school but fell, leading to a severe spinal cord injury.

“Another woman was in labour, and we lost her and the baby,” says Nada. “She passed away with her baby. We couldn’t save them because of the long distance from the village to the nearest health facility.”

Nada knew she needed to take action. Together with a group of around 50 women from the village, she began clearing the debris from the road in an attempt to make it safer to use.

“I called out to people to reopen the old road and women responded to my call. The first woman to respond had lost her baby during delivery on her way to the hospital,” Nada shares. “Once she heard about my initiative to reopen the old, neglected road, she was the first woman to join, and that gave me the strength to move ahead and call for more women to join us.”

It wasn’t easy for Nada to secure support. She says: “Male leaders in my community mocked us and criticised our initiative. They said we would need millions of Rials to fix this road. They also said that we are just a few women incapable of doing anything.”

But Nada refused to give up.

After fleeing her home due to war, this woman is rebuilding a road to save lives in Yemen