Amal Hussai, 7 years old, famine in Yemen a face

Last week, a distinguished girl became the symbol of the ongoing famine in Yemen.

According to Unicef, there are currently 1.8 million acute malnourished children in the country.

The photo, taken by New York Times magazine photographer Tyler Hicks, shows how seven-year-old Amal Hussain is in a hospital bed north of Yemen

The photo was widespread around the world. Many reacted with sadness, but also with turmoil, and then, the New York Times had to go out and explain why they had chosen to publish images of hungry children.

"It's our job as a journalist: to be witnesses, to give voice to those who are otherwise abandoned, who have become victims and who are forgotten", writes the newspaper.

During Friday, a tragic message arrived: Amal, which means "hope" in Arabic, died as a result of malnutrition.

"My heart is broken, Amal is still connecting, now I worry about my other children," said Mom Mariam Ali at the New York Times.

"No meat, just bones"

That's when the New York Times went to the region to document the aftermath of the war that Amal and his family faced.

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Amal was then taken care of in a UNICEF-owned hospital in Aslam, just over 23 km northwest of the country's capital. The nurses gave milk every two hours to Amal, but the girl suffered from vomiting and diarrhea.

– Departure. No meat, just bones, said a doctor and felt Amal, according to the newspaper missionary.

Three years ago, Amal and her family fled their homes in the mountains after several bombings.

Since 2015, a civil war has been ravaged in Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition backed by the United States has been sent to Houthirebels, backed by Iran.

The family overcame their head in a refugee camp, but eventually, Amal became ill today.

Could not afford to go to the hospital

The New York Times wrote that Amal had been discharged from the hospital last week while she was still sick, but the doctor instead asked the family to take her to the hospital. a hospital held 3 km from the hospital, managed by Doctors Without Borders.

Something that, on the other hand, could not afford and Amal Hussain had to go home with the straw hut and plastic powder hut in which the family currently lives.

"I did not have money to take her to the hospital, so I brought her home, says mom Mariam Ali at the New York Times.

There, the family had access to rice and sugar from various humanitarian organizations.

But it was not enough.

Three days later, on October 26, Amal died in a refugee camp 6.4 kilometers from the hospital where she was previously.

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