Yemeni child prodigy catches world attention

By Ali Abo Rezeg

ANKARA (AA) – The creativity of a 14-year old Yemeni boy, has perplexed social media platforms and news outlets across the world.

Sitting at his home, located in the impoverished Yemeni capital of Sanaa, Musheer al-Hazmi uses pencils, watercolors, scissors, and cardboard boxes to create designs and simulations like an ace architect.

“All this started when I was 10. I used to save my allowances to secure the tools needed for the simulations and designs. My daily concern was how that money would suffice the costs of glue, colors, and cardboard boxes,” Musheer al-Hazmi told Anadolu Agency.

"The good news that I was able to get the cardboard boxes free from the markets scattered in our neighborhood in the capital Sanaa,” said the child, gifted with architectural genius.

Using his flight of imagination, the teenager has designed the construction of the city’s telecommunication company, main hospital, along with other premises in different places of the war-torn country.

The war in Yemen has devasted the country’s education system. But Musheer says he is determined to pursue education and study architecture.

According to UNICEF, more than 2.2 million children continue to be out-of-school in Yemen since the beginning of the conflict in 2014.

Musheer's acumen has made him a trending star in the Arab region, thanks to many Arab and international media outlets.

“Having taken part in these shows and programs, I am happy to see that people are believing in my talent,” said the whiz kid.

-Help comes from businessman

In a video message posted on his Twitter account, Palestinian-Canadian businessman Omar Ayesh has pledged to sponsor Musheer to help him to procure tools required for his designs.

“It made me glad to see my voice being heard via these media platforms. My dream, thus, became true thanks to a Palestinian-Canadian businessman who believed in me and decided to sponsor me,” said the gifted teenager.

Ayesh, chairman of Nobles Holding, has also promised to finance a full scholarship to Musheer to allow him to pursue education in any international university that will also include housing expenses for his family, who are currently languishing, like millions of others, in the impoverished Yemen.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Ayesh, who is based in Washington said he had seen Musheer and his works on BBC TV.

“I felt that I have to do something for this gifted child. We the businessmen have a responsibility towards the gifted students not only in our nations but everywhere,” he said.

The Palestinian-Canadian businessman said he will try to help and identify other child prodigies as well.

“Musheer should not be the last. I am about to establish a platform linking the gifted and businessmen together, to raise support for them, mainly for the ones living in the war-torn countries of Yemen, Syria, and Palestine,” he added.

Yemen has been beset by violence and chaos since 2014, when Iran-aligned Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including the capital Sanaa.

The crisis escalated in 2015 when the Saudi-led coalition launched a devastating air campaign aimed at rolling back Houthi territorial gains.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the conflict in Yemen has so far claimed over 233,000 lives.

According to UNICEF, the increased vulnerability of children and women to exploitation, violence, abuse, child labor, domestic and gender-based violence, and child marriage remains a major problem in Yemen and continues to affect progress on outcomes for children.