International Education: The Road from Dhamar to Community Activism

When one first meets Fare’a Mahmood Al-Muslimi, one is immediately struck by his confidence in a bright future for himself and for Yemen. I had the privilege to meet Fare’a several years ago when he was an applicant to the U.S. Department of State high school exchange program called YES (Youth Exchange and Study Program). Although I wasn’t aware of it at the time, Fare’a wasn’t from Sana’a, but rather from a small village far from the capital. In spite of his youthful appearance, his journey to become a YES scholar and to take part in international education had already been a long one.

Farea’s journey begins in Dhamar. “I was raised in a very old village named Wessab Al-Ali in Dhamar Province. Life there is very, very simple and also very, very hard. People only have the basic life requirements. In all families, kids take care of the sheep and the farm work, and in the morning they go to school, if –and here is a big if—their parents could work on the farm without them. I was lucky. My dad believes in education a lot and sent me to school, but my studies didn’t forgive me from doing my share of the work when I came home.”

“Schools are VERY poor in Wessab-Al-Ali. Many have poor systems and so the education is weak. Even though he wasn’t even able to finish his elementary school, my dad believes in education and the importance of educating his children. He always encouraged me to learn in any way possible, and so I moved in 9th grade to Sana’a, where I lived far from my family because there was no good education in the village.” While in Sana’a, Fare’a attended a program for students from villages. Some students live in dormitories also shared with orphans and attend the program’s intermediate and secondary schools. Others, like Fare’a, split their time between the program and with relations whenever possible. The opportunities the school provides are and were better than the village schools for most of the students there. Also, transferring to Sana’a provided Fare’a with his first glimpse of international education. YES alumni visited the school and through that visit exposed him to the high school exchange opportunity.

Throughout the application and nomination stages of the exchange program, Fare’a demonstrated commitment, hard work and perseverance—important characteristics for anyone to have who wishes to take part in international education. He competed three years in a row for the scholarship and undertook a year of intensive English language study as an alternate before he was accepted as a full nominee for the program. But his nomination still wasn’t a guarantee. It took more hard work, and he faced almost insurmountable obstacles. Mid-way into the English language and cultural preparation program, Fare’a contracted chicken pox and had to recuperate at a relative’s home in Sana’a—limiting his English exposure at a critical juncture. At that point, the future did not look as bright. It was the last year that Fare’a could compete for the program; meanwhile he still needed to improve his English language.

Once Fare’a fully recuperated, he demonstrated another key component to exchanges—dedication to language study. He put in intensive hours in the lab and sought tutoring. Three months later (and with less than one week until the scholars were set to travel to the U.S.), Fare’a achieved his dream—he finally obtained the required English language score and was eligible to travel.

His journey to community activism began with a high school exchange program of nine months. Fare’a notes, “There are a lot of parts that can never be forgotten about my YES experience—the school and my host family, which are the main components of the program…doing many culture exhibitions about Yemen and joining clubs like the American Cancer Society are also important parts to mention about my YES experience, as well as interacting with the community through food collections for poor families during both Eid and Christmas… I had amazing experiences doing community service there. In my nine months in the U.S., I did more than 200 hours of community service. The activities and interaction taught me a lot about the importance of volunteer work and helping others. In fact, I loved it and I will keep doing a community service for the rest of my life. I learned the most from that experience.”

Fare’a comments on how his study abroad experience further helped him. “The YES program was the door that I stepped through to a lot of great things. First it was a great opportunity to experience a new life and new culture. This experience led me to start thinking critically. I had the opportunity to see the world from one corner, but with the program I could see the world from the other corner and from the middle point sometimes. I also gained better English skills which is important. Plus I got to understand the western culture which made it easy for me to communicate with westerners all around the world. Also I think the Tomorrow’s Leaders scholarship (which I was just awarded) is one of the outcomes from the YES program. I was given the first chance with YES, and I think because I took advantage of it with a positive attitude, I was given the confidence to try for a scholarship again—a university scholarship!”

The MEPI’s Tomorrow’s Leaders scholarship is one of the many doors that opened to Farea—as with other international exchange participants—once the first door is opened to international education. He notes, “I can say that my experience in working at NDI (the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs) in Yemen the year before I got the Tomorrow’s Leaders scholarship was also an outcome of the YES program. I think working there has been one of the most important professional experiences I have and will have in my life because it gave me a chance to work in fields that I am interested in, like politics, youth participation, women’s rights and NGOs. I have a clearer vision of what I want to do in the future. The experience encouraged me to choose my field of political science and public administration at my university now – the American University of Beirut. Professionally, it gave me an idea of how international organizations work. Also working alongside and for great people there gave me the opportunity to learn from them for one year and I am very thankful to them. It also taught me how to totally depend on myself and help my family, all while I was still 18 years old.”

Farea’s journey from Dhamar to community activism hasn’t been an easy one, but it is continuing. As he learned: “Maybe we can’t always do all what we plan, but there are many plans [we can] and I hope to achieve. One is I want to write a book about my experience in being a public ambassador for Arabs to the west…I will probably write about my experience in general to tell others about the importance and joy of being an ambassador between cultures, regions, and religions. I am also planning to establish an NGO that aims to build youth and women empowerment in Yemen to continue what I started in the YES program. I believe in building bridges, peace, and understanding between cultures. It is really important and in my opinion, that is something the world needs the most today.”

Throughout his experiences, his commitment to Yemen is strong: He would like to see more Yemenis involved in international education. “I think it is important to help more students who came from disadvantaged backgrounds for two reasons. One is those youth would never get the chance to know other cultures if they don’t go through funded programs. Second, these students will take the opportunity very seriously. Also I totally believe that those who are involved with international education should keep in touch after they finish their programs in order to help them accomplish their goals and to continue activities which they started at the beginning of their programs…In my opinion, international education is the fastest and best way to learn and teach others about your culture. It is also a successful way to mingle and react in peace in a time when the world becomes less peaceful.”

Well said, Fare’a, and we expect to hear more from you in the future! From Farea’s international education experiences, we can see that commitment to learning new things was essential, as was his persistence. Working to strengthen his English language skills was also necessary for his opportunities abroad. He succeeded, and his participation in international exchanges has resulted in more open doors. An upcoming article will glean from exchange participants in all walks of life some important characteristics of the successful exchange participant to help you in your journey.