MAKKAH, 1 July 2007 — Crouching on the side of a three-lane road with cars speeding past, an old thin man with gray hair and a weather-beaten face crouches on the floor gathering scattered dry grass with his scrawny fingers under the direct glare of the midday sun.

The look on his heavily tanned face clearly shows he is unwell; in fact, his vision seems to be faltering. Wearing a thick dark thobe, the old man has also tied a piece of material tightly round his waist, perhaps to suppress his hunger, as was the custom among people living in the Hijaz in bygone days.

Intrigued to know his story, I approached him and after the customary greeting asked, “What’s the need to put yourself through so much hardship?” He merely gave me a hard look thinking I was perhaps mocking him.

“Leave me alone, I’m just earning a living,” he replied.

I apologized and said I just wanted to know his story. After a bit of haggling I managed to gain his confidence, and the man opened his heart to me.

“My name is Saeed Al-Jahdali. There isn’t much to say about me. Come home and see how I live, that will explain a lot,” he said, insisting I visit him at home.

Al-Jahdali lives in a small three-room home. Shockingly, he has two wives, 10 children (five boys and five girls), and looks after another 10 members of his extended family including a brother and mother.

“As you can see this is the way I live. I don’t have a proper education to look for a proper job. I have to take care of my family and earn a living. Sometimes I put my life in danger just to earn a few riyals,” he said.

“I feel very sad when one of my children asks me for something that I can’t provide,” he added.

Al-Jahdali wakes up every day and having collected grass scattered by the wind goes to the animal and grass market. He usually earns SR5 for an entire bag, which he collects with a lot of difficulty. “What can I do, I just keep trying. My eyesight is faltering and while collecting grass I often get in the way of cars, which swerve to avoid me,” he said.

Al-Jahdali’s story is a sad one, one that hardly gets reported in the local press. However, his story is not unique. There are many like him scrimping and scavenging to bring bread and butter home.