Yemen: Beach of Death

This video has stayed with me ever since I first watched it months ago. Almost immediately after, I wrote this spoken word piece. I want to inspiration in it's purest form. Thank you for this.

all rights reserved to Tracey Dahl

Gulf of Aden

Do Somali refugees speak
about the weather in Yemen?
Do they eat the desert sand
and pray again for their drowned sisters?
Do Somali refugees speak
to their smugglers, to their god?

The Gulf of Aden carries boats
and bodies from Somalia to Yemen.
From war to peace.
Mogadishu is the shape of a bullet hole,
the shape of homes becoming heartless.
No matter how horrible dying could be,
is it worth living there, in the heart of a bullet hole,
where 'war' is the first word from your child's tongue?
What is worth dying for, if not to live in peace?

A smuggler named Death has no teeth,
he piles people on his boat like luggage.
There is no room for luggage.
It is the crowded back door of a Volvo,
floating, holding people that have no use for Volvos.
A smuggler named Death manipulates the waves
of the Gulf of Aden, carries peace-seekers to Yemen.
He lets them go hungry and he will never know what it is
to inhale beach. Ocean-spray breath, like the Red Sea.
Moses was a smuggler too,
but Death has more ocean than god ever will.

The sun is setting on this side of the world,
when peace-seekers are cast like fishing lines
over board. Praying to inhale beach,
to wander through desert and maybe die there.
Praying to die in peace.
Somali refugees were never taught to swim,
they capture waves to the shore
because sinking was never an option.

And what is it like to drown a peace-seeker
and never a peace-haver?
What is it like to leave your only home
because risk is better than death,
because peace is all you've ever wanted?
What is it like to speak about the weather
once you've made it to the desert,
hungry and dehydrated, praying for your drowned sister?

If you sit on the beach long enough,
the waves will bring driftwood as an offering.
If you stare at the driftwood long enough,
you will realize that these broken shapes
used to be human beings;
peace-seekers.
The Gulf of Aden imprinted
on their obsidian, desperate skin.
Close your eyes and listen:
the ocean has more death than god ever will,
Two-hundred miles away, Somalia
breeds tanks and war,
but in Yemen, there are refugees praying
and bodies taking the place of seashells.

In Somalia, there is war and death,
on Yemen beaches, there is peace and death.
And here;
here, we live,
ignoring every bit of war and peace.
Here, we have smugglers named Death,
we've just gotten better at ignoring their toothless grins.

Somewhere in Yemen, there are Somali refugees,
plunging their own hearts in the the desert,
planting peace and heartbreak,
letting the sun and leftover ocean grow,
and people speak about the weather,
even in the desert.

This is a very important piece of journalism that should be seen by everyone -- the average American needs to know what is happening around the world because of the US.

It's not easy to watch a video of bodies washing up on a beach, but the real things that are happening to our fellow human beings need to be seen and understood.

I have to say, all thoughts of wanting a new phone or wanting to go shopping or other trivial things just fly out of my head when I'm exposed to what's really going on. I wish all new Blackberries and Iphones came pre-loaded with Vanguard, maybe then more people would see these images.

Appalling... ain't nothing like hawaii that for damn sure.

I had tears in my eyes as I watched this piece, trying to comprehend the struggle these people endure in pursuit of a better life. Amazing story & fantastic journalism! Thanks guys

I have a fast broadband connection but not the fastest in the world. I can't watch it non-stop because there are too many pauses. i want to download it once and watch it, but at the slightest excuse the video stops and I have to spend an hour downloading it all over again., Currently I have to stop the video and rewind it to the beginning JUST BEFORE it finishes or I have to reload the entire thing from the beginning. Is there anyway to avoid this, or to download the video so I can watch it properly? Thank you.

Very moving-- I especially appreciated that there was a balance between explaining the motivations for leaving Somalia, interviews with Somalis, those who work with Somalis, and unfortunately, shots of the deceased.

WHOA..... damn war... anywho the cause of the war: American even thou we are the super power of the world man ..... the small stories..... and man when you were filming the dead people I don't think they appreciated it .....

this was a truly touching video. And such great journalism. It really opens your eyes to the tragedies going on in the world today.

this was a truly touching video. And such great journalism. It really opens your eyes to the tragedies going on in the world today.

sometimes the sin is knowing and doing nothing about it... thank you for sharing your experience with all of us. I'm sorry for what your eyes have seen. the haunting images you will never forget.....

This is heartbreaking. When they found the bodies it was really distressing and hard to watch. I'm lost for words, I'm really sad now.

Hats off to you guys for telling the story. We do care. We do care. Hearts go out...

Why does no one intervene the situation? They fight wars for oil, land, policy, and greed, yet no country helps these people, must be an other African tragedy; poor leadership, greed, and unfortunate. Why did America stop the war with the rebels? Is this not the same country that promotes and allows Pirates to raid ships for ransom? Why does no entity intervene?

This is true journalism guys, thanks! This made me cry it was so heart-breaking and frustrating knowing this is going on and not being able to do anything about it.

Its amazing to see the struggle of people around the world and being a citizen of the U.S. i feel censored from the outside world. It makes you truly appreciate what you have and wonder how people can be so cruel to one another.

Amazing reporting, guys.

Current is the best on-the-ground journalism going today.

And just what is Obama going to do about this since it was this government by backing Ethiopia that pushed these people to this horrible fate? I personally think BECAUSE of this situation we have every right and reason to call out leaders of this country and this government that has a long history of fomenting this kind of horror for their own advantage.

Thank you for this documentary, I think we as Americans truly need to stay informed about tragedies such as these. I think its really humbling when we complain about our "problems" and our recession, and people spout venom about Obama being a communist or a socialist--it really makes us look like fools and whiners when there are people especially in somalia who are suffering and dying just for a chance at a somewhat, but not much better, life.

My heart goes out to our fellow human beings.

Compelling and heartbreaking, this piece reminds me that no matter how bad things may seem in the US, we can't begin to comprehend what hardship really means.
True excellence in journalism is the willingness to witness the saddest or cruelest of humanity and make sure it's shared with the rest of the world.
My sorrow goes out to those who were lost or suffered the loss of others.

I can't even comprehend having to decide to leave the land you love and were born in to head into such uncertainty and fear, but knowing you have no other choice. I am still crying watching the end of this, and I honestly don't know how you held the camera as you did. I know it must have been extremely hard to do. My heart goes out to these people so much and I truly am in awe of their bravery. Hopefully, now that more people have seen what is happening here something more can be done. Doctors Without Borders is without a doubt an organization of heroes whose humanity is unbounded. The one way to support these people coming over to Yemen is to then support MSF.

Vanguard has done a great service by doing this report, and I thank you so much for it. No one should have to live this way, and frankly, I wish the US would keep its nose out of these areas. It looks like as you stated in the beginning that peace might come, and then we step in again and chaos breaks out. The US government then needs to step up and work to fix what it helped to create. This is a humanitarian crisis that we can no longer afford to ignore.

I SAW THE TITLE AND THOUGHT I WOULD LAUGH. THIS ISN'T FUNNY. THIS IS FRUSTRATING AND SO SAD. WE NEED TO SEE THIS THOUGH.

and I would like to add to ras_menelik comment, thank you and I am very thankful for Doctors Without Borders and their pursuit for humanity. Their impartiality is one of many great virtues I strive to absorb.

Kaj, Christof

Gentlemen thank you for going back