Qat (100 words)

Selling Qat

Chewing Qat

Qat is ubiquitous in Yemen. Everyone seems to chew - guards, drivers, soldiers, vegetable sellers, business men. Women too, but they do so indoors. You can’t avoid seeing cheeks swollen with the green leaves, as if all males over 15 had some strange deformity activated every afternoon. Not a quick high, the chewing process takes hours, and a large portion of slim budgets. Children beg at busy intersections to fund their father’s habit. Vast amounts of water, labor and land is dedicated to the crop. Some say the habit is tolerated, even encouraged, by the government to keep potential trouble makers peaceful.