“Clean your plate if it is touched by a dog, but break it if it’s touched by a khadem [meaning 'servant' in Arabic].”
Al muhamasheen "the marginalized ones" is the politically correct name for dark-skinned Yemenis, commonly refered to as Akhadem - "servants." No one really knows for sure, but the story is that they are descendants of the Ethiopian army that invaded Yemen some 1500 years ago. When the Ethiopians were defeated and driven out, those that remained became slaves of the local population. Slavery was officially abolished in 1962 and the caste systems was slowly dismantled in Yemen, but the muhamasheen, unlike any other group in Yemeni society, have maintained their role as reviled, ostracized outsiders.
Everyday on every major street you'll see men and occasionally women wearing orange jumpsuits, broom and dust pan in hand collecting all that is deemed unfit for human consumption and use. Street sweeper is the only position the majority of al muhamasheen are allowed to hold, and in the poorest country in the Middle East, they are poorest of the poor. They are denied access to education and health care, and are concentrated in festering slums without running water or adequate sanitation.
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