Yemen

Alumni enjoy a trip to the local bowling alley.

On November 28th and 29th, nineteen YES alumni took part in an event which promoted organizational skills, team work, initiative and physical training. The Yemen National Stadium in Sana’a was the venue for the SIS Football Classic in which an alumni team took part, supported by the cheering YES alumnae. Not to be confused with American football, this soccer tournament provided a perfect opportunity for some of the alumni to catch up with each other and to inform some of the fans about the YES program, as well as to display a bit of fancy footwork. Although they only had time for a few pre-game practices, the Alumni team placed third among five teams in their division!

The alumni also participated in a First Aid Awareness Week at the Red Crescent-Aden branch during August. The goals of the lectures were to provide basic information and to clear up misconceptions about administering emergency First Aid. The topics discussed were bleeding, burns, shock, and artificial resuscitation. Before the training began, participants were asked to discuss what they already knew about First Aid. “It turned out that many participants had incorrect information about what to do in a variety of medical emergency situations” said one of the Red Crescent group leaders. “For example, one person thought that pouring tomato juice on a burn, regardless of its severity, would alleviate the pain and the amount of damage done to the burned tissues. Luckily this was a good opportunity to correct misinformation, he said.” The alumni hope to use this training to help their communities especially as few members of their local communities have this type of valuable medical training and background.

Alumni learn CPR during an International Red Crescent training.

In October, Edward Prados, AMIDEAST Country Director, along with a some American ESL teachers, organized an event for the recently returned alumni. The first stop was bowling at the Aden Mall, the largest mall in the city. For many of the alumni, this was their first time bowling! They then shared a pizza dinner, where they spoke about their experiences in the U.S. and what difficulties they faced. The discussion was lively and fun; the alumni reported an overall positive exchange experience and were looking forward to using some of the leadership skills they had learned on the YES program in Yemen.