Even the sky was yellow when I was a youngster

Twenty years ago, sand was everywhere. The wind was so strong that we could not open our eyes and sand was constantly blown into our faces. It was like being constantly pricked with needles.

There were no roads at the time. Everything was swallowed up by the yellow sand - even the sky. Everywhere you looked, you saw the color yellow. We had to light oil lamps during daytime because the sand clouded the sky, and we jammed our doors closed with sticks at night to stop the sand from pouring in.

I remember nothing about my childhood but yellow sand. When I ate, I tasted sand. When I went to bed, I slept on sand. When I breathed, I inhaled sand.