This episode includes the first two installments in a new recurring feature we're calling the Wartime Journal. We’ve asked contributors in different parts of Yemen to record audio journal entries for us, conveying their own personal experience of Yemen’s ongoing war. Our first journal entry comes from Yemen’s capital, San’a. It was recorded by a young government employee, who chooses not to use her name for fear of retaliation. This contributor provides a remarkable perspective on life in wartime San’a, and gives us a glimpse into the dysfunction of Yemen’s central government under the control of Ansar Allah, or the Houthi movement. 

Since UN-sponsored peace talks broke down in August, airstrikes by Saudi Arabia and its allies against Houthi-Saleh forces have intensified in San'a and other parts of northern Yemen. Our contributor in San’a does not support the Houthis, but believes that the air campaign against them is only making things worse. You can read about the impact of airstrikes on Yemeni civilians here.